


Lose Control

by Emyly001



Series: Lose Control [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Ahsoka Tano Needs a Hug, BAMF Ahsoka Tano, Blood and Violence, Canon-Typical Violence, Dubious Consent, Dubious Morality, Exile, F/M, Female Friendship, First Kiss, First Time, Friends With Benefits, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, Huddling For Warmth, Humiliation, Injury, Injury Recovery, Late Night Conversations, Male Friendship, Male-Female Friendship, Medical Inaccuracies, Movie Night, Night Terrors, One Night Stands, Out of Character, Past Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker, Politics, Post-Suicide Mission, Pre-Suicide Mission, Prisoner of War, Public Humiliation, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Harm, Self-Hatred, Slow Burn, Slow Dancing, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt, Teacher-Student Relationship, Team Bonding, Team as Family, Violence, Weapons, Weird Biology, Weird Plot Shit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-16
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2020-11-02 03:09:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 19
Words: 33,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20601950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emyly001/pseuds/Emyly001
Summary: (Takes place after the episode To Catch A Jedi)Barriss Offee is still exposed to the Jedi council and Senate yet Ahsoka still faces the consequences. She's technically exiled from the Jedi, she is being affiliated to a team of 'defective' clones as their new commander and her mission is to complete missions with them and make them 'normal' again.She's less than thrilled when she met them, showing their aggressive side except for few.And now there's a new Force sensitive warrior that the Jedi and their troopers captured and the council and mainly the Senate want her to work with Ahsoka.None of them are happy. Joy.Arc 1: The beginning of everything - Part 1 - 11Arc 2: First Mission - Part 1 -





	1. Arc 1: The beginning of everything - Part 1

Ahsoka was numb when Barriss Offee gave her speech about how the Separatists knew the way towards the truth and light, towards freedom.

Her friend, stabbed her in the back, disillusioned by the Separatists. She was lead away by the guards, still talking but Ahsoka didn't listen, being too numb and Padmé was shaking her off.

"Ahsoka? Ahsoka, are you alright?" Padmé spoke softly and Ahsoka shook her head. "No...."

* * *

"Ahsoka is still too valuable of an asset to the Jedi and being a commander." Palpatine spoke with leveled calm, adressing everyone in the Senate and the Jedi council. "Now that she was cleansed of the accusations, I suggest to keep her away from the public eye and ears."

"And how do you intend to do that, Chancellor Palpatine?" Padmé asked respectfully. "There is a group of 'defective' Clone troopers, but they are still a good soldiers. They did not want to dispose of them. We can affiliate her to them as their new Commander." Palpatine answered.

"Sure you are, good idea this is, Chancellor?" Yoda asked in his holographic form. "I am sure, Master Yoda. You said it yourself, she's a very great ally and asset. It would be a shame if we lost her." Palpatine, pressed his fingertips together on front of him.

Yoda hummed in thought. "Do then, what you must." The Jedi council disconnected and Palpatine shared a look with Padmé. "I hope you know what you are doing Chancellor." "I do."

_"If they kill her, it is her fault."_

* * *

"Worried you are, Master Plo." Yoda looked up at Plo Koon as the rest of the Jedi walked out. "I am concerned, Master Yoda. I knew Ahsoka since she was little Togruta girl and I know her quite well. I worry that when she will be assigned to those 'defective' clones...." Plo Koon trailed off and Yoda made a 'humming' sound.

"Very capable, she is. Worry you not, Master Plo. If help she needs, ask she can." Yoda reassured with a small smile and Plo Koon smiled and nodded. "I will be sure to tell her that."

Plo Koon walked out of the room and Yoda's expression changed into murky one. "Great danger awaits you, young one. Careful, you must be."

* * *

Ahsoka was packing her things into a luggage, her hands trembling and numb, trying not to let the tears fall.

"Commander Tano?" Ahsoka jumped and looked towards the doorway, where Rex was standing with worried expression. "Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you." "Rex, what are you doing here?" Ahsoka asked softly as Rex slowly stepped into the room. "I wanted to see you."

New tears prickled at the corners of Ahsoka's as she looked into Rex's honest eyes. "Let me help you." 

Rex helped Ahsoka to pack the rest of her things, closing the last box. "Thank you, Rex. You didn't have to." "That's my job. Helping my commander." Ahsoka shook her head. "Not your commander anymore." She looked down, her balled up fists shaking at her sides. Rex gently rised her head up and she sobbed, wrapping her arms around Rex's shoulders, burying her face into it, letting the tears fall. "I'm going to miss you."

Rex securely wrapped his arms around her middle, holding her close. "Me too, Ahsoka. Me too." He gently placed her back on her feet, kissing one of her montrals. 

When she was loading the boxes into her ship, that would take her to a new location, new planet, _new home, _Anakin with Rex were helping her.

"Ahsoka...." She turned to look at Anakin, who was looking at her sadly. "I'm sorry. For everything." Ahsoka nodded her thanks. "Before you go, come with me outside, one last time."

She furrowed her brows and followed her former master out and she gasped in surprise at what she was seeing. The whole 501st was gathered outside her ship along with Obi-Wan and Plo Koon. "Atteention!" They moved in unision. "Saalute!" Rex was yelling orders and the whole battalion saluted. 

Fighting back the tears, Ahsoka saluted back with a weak smile, "At ease, boys." and walked over to Plo. "No matter what happens from now on, Little One. I will always be proud of you." She hugged him and he hugged her back. "Thank you, Master Plo. For everything." She whispered. _"For this amazing family you've introduced me into."_

He relaxed his hold when she was pulling back and walked over to Obi-Wan. "Master-" Screw decency, Obi-Wan pulled her into a strong hug. "Be sure to call us regularly." Ahsoka laughed. "I will. Don't worry, I will."

As she was going up the ramp, she turned around one last time, smiled and the ramp closed after her.

* * *

Ahsoka looked at the navigation system as she entered the atmosphere. She sighed and started to ponder aloud. "Hmm. I wonder what my new team will be like? Like the 501st? More like the Wolfpack? Or like Coruscant Guard?" Ahsoka shuddered at the thought and rubbed at her arms.

She looked at the city one more time before she left for good.

_'Entering hyperspace in 3.... 2.... 1.....'_

Her ship jumped into hyperspace, the stars running around her in long streaks. She couldn't hold the tears any longer, her lips started to wobble and she sunk to the ground and curled, sobs wrecking her body, trembling.

* * *

"Understood. We'll be awaiting our new Commander." A Clone Trooper ended his line of communication by a press of a button and leaned back in his chair. "So, something is happening in this Senate forsaken palnet." He swirled around in his chair, taking off his helmet, revealing his clean shaved head and face.

"Wow. This is what everyone wanted." A clone, with his black hair slicked back, a nasty looking scar at his temple leading to the side of his head, said sarcastically.

"Come on Forge, at least we could do some missions together and not to just sit here." A clone with heterochromia said softly, polishing his blaster. He snorted and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure, Chrome. You were always crawling up others butts." Forge spat and got up from his spot and left the room.

The bald clone rolled his eyes. "Asshole." "Now, now, Hitter. Be nice. We want to make a good first impression." Chrome piped and Hitter had to chuckle. "The only men who can do a good first impression would be you, Tal, Tiger..... maybe me." Chrome laughed. "Don't forget Shiny. That guy can work his charm." Both Chrome and Hitter laughed.

"Speaking of which, I haven't seen Tal the whole day. Where is he?" Hitter looked around and Chrome shrugged. "Who knows? He was always the silent type."

* * *

An overgrown clone trooper sat hunched over under the bunk bed, holding his helmet with a name scribbled on it. _'Kreacher'._

He ran his thumb over each letter a faint memory coming back.

_"Brother, please. Don't leave me."_

_"Don't cry, little brother. Don't cry."_

A knock on the door pulled him out of his trance and he carefully got up from the bunk bed. _"Tal, you in there? Our new Commander should be here any moment."_

Chrome.

"I'm coming, Chrome. I'm coming." He opened the door and had to duck to walk into the hallway. "You alright, Tal?" "I'm fine, brother. I'm fine." He put on his helmet and followed Chrome out. Tiger, Hitter and two other clones were present. "Where's Forge?" Tal asked. Tiger shrugged. "Don't know, don't care." 

"They are coming."

* * *

As Ahsoka left the hyperspace, she composed herself and sat back into the chair. Wiping the tears away, she looked at the grey-black planet and Ahsoka felt hollow.

_"Is this where they sent the defective clones?" _She thought, her throat clenching tight, the hollow feeling not leaving her. She slowly descended with her ship and landed on the landing platform.

She saw four clone troopers standing on the platform, one very tall and in a plain white armor, the other had green stripes on it, three more were also plainly white and fourth one had red stripes. _"Oh, no." _She felt her Light Sabers on her belt but she was still tense.

Taking a deep breath, deciding that it was rude to keep them waiting, she got up and opened her ramp. She slowly descended and she saw them going stiff and salute to her. She saluted back. "At ease." "Welcome to Shadowrika, Commander." The green striped trooper said. Ahsoka nodded. "Pleasure to meet you all. Let's start with introducing each other. I am Commander Ahsoka Tano. And you in the green one?" "TC-2525, Chrome, Commander Tano." 

She nodded and looked at the first, plain looking one. "TC-7765, Hitter, Commander." The second one. "TC-3654, Bomber, Commander." The third one. "TC-6984, Smoke, Commander." "And you, the tall one?" Ahsoka had to look up at him. "TC-1111, Tal." 

"And you, in the red one. Were you part of the Coruscant guard?" Ahsoka asked, being wary. "Yes, ma'am. The name's TC-1011, Tiger." _"Oh, God," _Ahsoka thinks. _"He's even closer to Fox than I imagined." _

"Commander Tano, may I take off my helmet?" Chrome asks, his hands going to the sides of the helmet. "You may, soldier." Ahsoka nodded, Chrome took off his helmet and Ahsoka's breathing hitched, eyes going wide. All the clones looked the same but this one..... this one.... His _eyes. _She was mesmerized by his eyes, one brown, one green and so full of _care and honesty..... _She couldn't look away.

Until she realized that he was talking.

"-let me show you your barracks, Commander." "Uh, yes. Of course." Ahsoka followed Chrome into the building and the inside looked exactly the same. 

Dark.

Grim.

Unwelcoming.

It made her shiver.

"There is one more trooper. Forge. He must be in the control room. Better not disturb him." Chrome didn't want to know what would happen. "Here, Commander."

Chrome opened the door for her, and Ahsoka stepped in, looking around. Bed in the far right corner, nightstand next to it and in the left corner a closet. Completely bare. There was no desk and Ahsoka found herself pouting at that.

"You seem tired, Commander. Please, rest." Ahsoka doesn't fight it when Chrome leads her to the bed, suddenly aware of how her limbs are heavy, her eyes sting and her chest feeling tight and hollow at the same time.

She lays down, not bothering with the sheets and her eyes drift shut, sleep overtaking her rather quickly.


	2. Arc 1: The beginning of everything - Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Mention of past abuse, past attempted rape, past homicide and past suicide.

Ahsoka rolled onto her back and winced, feeling every sore muscle, noting the not too comfortable bunk she was sleeping on.

_And the awful quiet._

Shooting into a sitting position, she bumped her head on the low bunk ceiling, holding her head. She looked around the _too small _room until she remembered where she was.

_Shadowrika._

Sighing, she gripped the edge of the bed, noting that her luggage and boxes with her stuff were in the small room, cramping it even more.

_"Wait a minute."_

Bolting, she checked the tape on her boxes and her luggage, rumaging trough it, mentally checking if anything was missing. Everything was there and the tape on the boxes wasn't tampered with nor re-taped.

_"Huh. Go figure."_

Standing up, she started to stretch, releasing the tension and soreness. "I think I will unpack the boxes at least. Everything important is in the luggage." Using her lightsaber to cut the tape, she pulled her things out, trying to organize them so they wouldn't take too much space in the already small room.

Sighing as she put the last empty box onto the pile and she moved to her luggage. As she was pulling out her clothes a small holoprojector fell out. Reaching for it with shaky fingers, she picked it up and turned it on and bit at her bottom lip.

It was her, back then, who insisted to take the picture after a successful battle, to keep some memory. Master Skywalker was against it but his words were outweighted by the many troopers. Some of them were even excited.

Inhaling a shaky breath, at the verge of tears, she turned it off and pressed it to her chest, a sob escaping her. She covered her mouth to stiffle other sobs that threatened to escape her.

She hated how her body was shaking, hated how her breathing was ragged, hated how the tears finally and _painfully _fell, hated how she clutched onto the holoprojector, _hated how she blamed the Jedi Council and her Master to some degree for what happened to her._

"No...." She shook her head and tucked the holoprojector under her pillow and her luggage under the bunk bed, walked to the door and opened them, peeking out and looking around the barren hallway.

"No one near. Good." She went out of the room, memorizing the pathway she's walking, but having a hard time because of how everything blended together and looked the same.

She walked through a door and stopped dead in her tracks, taking in her surroundings. She wandered into a communication center, seeing one clone with a nasty scar sitting behind it, tapping away.

"Umm. Hi. Did we met before?" Ahsoka spoke softly and saw the clone tense and stop in his typing before resuming. "No. And I would be be glad if we didn't meet at all. But, we can't have everything, can we?" He spit out and added some sarcasm to it.

Ahsoka blinked at the behavior. _"That's weird. Clones are suppose to be nice and respectful to their Jedi generals.... Well, Commander." _"Did I say something wrong?" "You showed your ugly mug in here and ruined my whole, goddamn day. Yeah, you did something wrong." The clone sneered and Ahsoka bristled at that.

"I'm your commander and you should treat me with respect." Ahsoka knew it was a low blow but how was she suppose to get him in line? He stood up and marched over to her, anger in his eyes. "Listen and listen good. I don't take orders from a Jedi, before you ask, you're making it pretty obvious that you are one, trying to force your superiority onto us." Ahsoka tightened her jaw. _"What's this guy's problem?"_

"Aw, Forge, are you being a nice guy for once?" Another clone trooper walked in, his armor clean, _way too clean, _patting Forge on the shoulder. "Piss off, Shiny." Forge swatted his hand away and stomped out of the room.

Shiny chuckled. "Don't worry about him. He has a strong shell but underneath all of that, he's a nice guy." Shiny crossed his arms, blinding Ahsoka for a while, the artificial light reflecting off his armor. "Sorry. Imma take this off." He took off his upper armor piece by peace, dumping it in a corner and flopped onto a chair with a pleased sound, stretching out his legs, crossing his arms behind his head. "You are our new commander, yes?" 

Ahsoka sat across from him. "Yes. Commander Ahsoka Tano. You are Shiny, if I'm not mistaken." Shiny nodded. "Yep. Too much wax on my armor. Nothing sticks to it, too much protection." He grinned. "And what are you? A Jedi reject?" "You can... Say it like that." 

Shiny's grinn fell. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..." Ahsoka shook her head. "No. It's fine," She readjusted her sitting position. "Tell me about how you got here." "A trooper who questions orders is no good trooper to the Jedi." Shiny shrugged, looking a bit awkward with his hands raised.

Ahsoka's jaw dropped. "Really." "Yep. I know. Stupid. But hey, I'm not droid, Am I?" His grin was back. "No. Do you know why others are here?" Ahsoka spoke softly.

"Tal is here because he's overgrown. He got a bit stuck when he was a child so they gave him a more of the stuff that makes us grow older quicker and lo and behold, he's a skyscraper." Both of them chuckled at that. "I'm not quite sure about Bomber and Smoke but they came in together and are pretty close to each other so they must have worked together."

"Chrome is here because he has heterochromia." 'Wait, so... He's here just because he has a defect?" Ahsoka blinked. "Yeah. We need to be identical, you know?" He shrugged again. "Hitter is here because 'apparently'," He gestured with his fingers, "He punched a female Jedi and held her at gunpoint." "Which Jedi?" Ahsoka asked. "I'm not telling you names for a reason. You look like you still like your order."

Nodding, Ahsoka motioned for him to continue. "Tiger knows something. I don't know what but he does. They couldn't get him to talk and didn't want the information to spread if he got sent back on Kamino, so they sent him here."

"And Forge?" Ahsoka was really curious about this one. Shiny's easy-going posture was gone and he leaned forward, drawing his legs closer and resting his elbows on them. "He was serving under Pong Krell." Ahsoka's blood ran cold. "He was threatening them, beating them up if some mission went wrong. Hell, before they stationed me here, there was a rumor that Krell sometimes forced himself on them but I have no idea how truthful that is." Ahsoka clenched her fists.

"Another mission went wrong. Krell was yelling at them trough the comes in their helmets, hurting them, making the whole batch scared. They knew if they didn't return, they would end up in bigger trouble or if they did return, only the Force knew what would happen to them."

Ahsoka started to think that Forge had the scar from Pong Krell, hating him even more yet Shiny continued. "Do you know what their Commander did?" "What?" She asked, baffled.

"Do you know what their Commander did?" Shiny asked again, looking straight into Ahsoka's eyes. "What did he do?" Her voice was shaking, knuckles going white.

"He started shooting." Ahsoka prayed to the Force that it wouldn't be the answer. _"We can't have everything, can we?" _Forge's words ran through her head. "He shot every remaining Troopers, his own brothers, even those that begged. The shot must've bounced off of other one and hit Forge, the only explanation I have for him to survive. When everyone was down, Forge watched as their Commander took off his helmet, put his own gun into his mouth and pulling the trigger."

Ahsoka gasped, vivid image in her mind from Forge's perspective, laying on the ground, helpless and bleeding. Watching as _his own Commander _takes of his helmet, _fear, pain and sadness _his main emotions, slowly puts the barrel of his gun into his mouth, pulls the trigger and falls to the ground, limp, eyes unseeing, blood pooling underneath his head.

"Commander?" Shiny pulled Ahsoka out of her thoughts, looking worried. Shaking her head, she asked. "Who found him?" "A search party with a male Jedi. It was the Jedi stationed on Kamino that recommend treatment and transfer him here." _"Shaak Ti was taking care of him." _

"Did he said anything to them?" Shiny shook his head. "No. Didn't say a word." 

Forge was keeping all of his emotions bottled up inside of him, eating him alive and she's the awful remined of what happened to him and his fellow soldiers. _Because she's a Jedi._

"Give Forge a chance. I know he's rude and unlikable but." Shiny reaches for something behind him and Ahsoka notices it's a black bag. _"How did I missed it?" _He reached into it and pulled a black rock.

"You see this rock? At the first glance, it looks like an ordinary rock. Ugly. Black." He pulled a small hammer and a gusset, set the rock between his knees and cracked it open with the hammer and gusset. "But inside, is something. Beautiful." He showed the two halves and her eyes widened. Inside were beautifully toned blue crystals, shining in the light.

He leaned forward and she met him halfway, taking it. "Think of Forge as this rock. Ugly on the outside, magnificent on the inside." Ahsoka smiled and wanted to return it but Shiny shook his head. "Keep it. A gift from me." 

"Thank you." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts?
> 
> Also, try to figure out why Bomber and Smoke are there. A little test for you, readers.
> 
> I know I was mean to Forge with the rock but you get the idea, ay?


	3. Arc 1: The beginning of everything - Part 3

Ahsoka watched Shiny as he cracked more stones, revealing more beautiful diamonds inside of them, throwing away those that had nothing in them.

"Is your name Shiny because of your armor or because of the rocks you're collecting?" Ahsoka nodded towards the rocks. He looked up from his work and smiled. "Which version do you like more?" "Hmm. I think the one with the armor if I'm being honest." Shiny chuckled. "Both versions are right. Armor looks like new but in reality it isn't and I like shiny things, hence the collecting of diamonds."

She smiled at him and moved her chair next to his to watch him work better. "Interested, Commander?" "Yes. I've never..... I've never seen any of the soldiers do some sort of hobbies or something. It's nice to see..." "A clone doing something different." Shiny chuckled at that. "Here, everyone is different. Even those who serve on the frontlines are different." He paused in his diamond revealing. "I really pity the Coruscant guard, y'know?"

Ahsoka stiffened in response at that, recalling Commander Fox, holding a blaster to her head. "I mean, the frontliners can differentiate from one another, tattoos, haircuts, piercings and _Force _knows what else they can do to themselves and the Jedi won't mind. But the Coruscant guard..." Sighing, he ran his hand trough his hair. "One brother decided to have a haircut. Nothing extra, just shave. He took off his helmet at the wrong time and in the wrong company. The senator threw a temper tantrum like a toddler about it and the poor guy was shipped off to Kamino, no one knows what happened to him."

Ahsoka shuddered at the thought, remembering Rex's blonde, shaved head, Cody's scar, Wolffe's prosthetic scar of Five's tattoo and goatee. She felt warm, gloved hand curl around her hand, she glanced down and then back at Shiny who was smiling at her. "Don't think about it like that. Be glad for what you have."

Ahsoka nodded and Shiny nodded, tucking the last empty rock into the bag and flinging it over his shoulder. He offered Ahsoka his hand. "Let me show you something." Ahsoka took his offered hand and stood up, letting herself be led trough the corridors. 

_Ahsoka noted how barren and devoid of life it was._

"No one goes back here. Only me." He led her trough dimly lit corridors and exited trough some sort of hangar, Shiny dumped out the contents of his bag onto the ground. He took her hand again, the terrain rocky and dusty, soft under Ahsoka's feet.

They zigzag trough sharp rocks and small hills until they come across a cave, littered with huge crystals in variety of hues and shades. "I come here to think, when I want to be alone. The crystals give me sense of warmth and calmness that is weird at times but not unwelcome." Shiny said as he sat near the cave entrance, touching a light yellow crystal.

Ahsoka stepped closer too and touched a red crystal toned into the crystal clear color. A sense of warmth and calmness rushed trough her upon touching it. _She felt safe._

"When did you find it?"

"I was bored one day and decided to take a walk. I don't know why but...." He caressed the crystal. "I felt some tugging in here," He caressed his chest with his other hand. "It led me here. Guided me." 

Ahsoka blinked at that, tapped the crystal, trying to use Force but it did not react in any way. _"Hmm. Weird." _

"I wanted to ask you something, Commander." Shiny looked at her and Ahsoka nodded. "Ask away, soldier." "When you were stationed here, I thought you would bring us some mission. I asked around and," Shiny gestured with his hand and made a face. "Nothing."

"Sorry to disappoint." She sat down next to him. "I have been given a very little information and I didn't want to ask much questions after.... after....." Ahsoka got a far away look for a minute but shook her head quickly. "The only thing that told me that I was assigned to a group of 'defects' in the Outer Rim. They prepared my ship and everything."

Shiny nodded. "What happened?"

Ahsoka gulped audibly. "I have... I was...." Ahsoka thought about not telling him, to keep it secret, but that would make her a hypocrite. "I was framed. Betrayed by a close friend of mine. Padawan as me. I was judged for something I didn't do."

"Which was?"

"Bombing of a Jedi temple."

_"Kriff."_

"I'm over it."

"No, you're not."

Ahsoka didn't answer, being more interested in drawing shapes in the black dust.

"Commander, look at me." Shiny tried to sound stern and failed. _"Ahsoka, _look at me, _please._" Ahsoka rises her head, meeting Shiny's stare. He extended his hand towards her and she accepted, pulling her into a firm hug, Ahsoka hugged him back, new tears sliding down her cheeks.

* * *

Their return was spent in complete silence, Ahsoka feeling rather numb, tripping over her own feet all the way back.

_"I should call my Master.... No. Not anymore. Skywalker."_

"Can I.... Can I use the communicator?" Ahsoka asked weakly and Shiny nodded. "I'll leave you alone." Shiny walked away and Ahsoka composed herself, wiped away her dried tears for good measure and dialed Skywalker's number. After a while, a hologram of Anakin popped up.

_"This is General Skywalker. Who - Ahsoka?" _

"Hello, Mas.... Anakin. I promised I would call." She smiled weakly. 

_"Well, you promised it to Master Kenobi but," _Anakin added, more softly. _"But it is good to hear from you, none the less. How is your new battalion treating you?"_

"I haven't spoken to all of them yet, I was mainly catching up on some sleep but the two I talked to so far are... Quite nice. And the third one is rough around the edges. But he'll come around, I'm sure of it."

Anakin nodded. _"From what I'm hearing, so far so good. And -" _

_"Is that Commander Tano, sir?" _Rex's voice came from the side, unseen in the hologram and Anakin turned his head to look at him. _"Yes, Captain, it is." _

_"May I speak to her, sir?" _

_"Of course, Captain." _Anakin smiled and Rex came into view.

_"Uh, good evening, Commander. So far so good?"_

Ahsoka laughed. "You can say that. Oh, there's one you would certainly like, Captain. He's friendly, very friendly towards me and others and a great support." Ahsoka hummed as she tapped her chin. "I think I like him too, y'know?" 

_"Do you now, Commander? That's great, glad to hear that you're settling in well." _Rex said, something in his voice, catching Anakin's attention. 

"Commander?" Shiny walked into the room, making Ahsoka look at him and smile. "Shiny, what do you need?" Shiny knowledged the holograms with a nod of his head before looking back at Ahsoka with a smile. "It's a game night tonight, the boys told me to go and fetch you." Ahsoka's face lit up. "A game night? Sounds interesting. Sorry, General Skywalker, Captain, I have to go. See you soon!"

_"Alright, Ahsoka, be sure to call us soon!"_

The hologram was turned off by Ahsoka and she stood up, she and Shiny smiling at each other. "What are we playing?" "A card game called UNO. It's fun, easy to understand."

They came into a room, quite big, small closet stacked with board games and card games, two tables pushed together with chair all around it, already occupied, Bomber - dyed hair into light brown - adding another chair for her. "Ah, Commander, nice of you to join us!" Hitter commented, grinning.

Ahsoka took a seat between Shiny and Smoke -silvery hair - and Chrome gave out cards, small black and red with a yellow UNO on it, Hitter telling her the rules and how to play.

"Forge is not playing with us?" Ahsoka asked as she looked around, his scar kinda hard to miss. "No. He's a loner. He doesn't talk with us unless he needs to ever since he came here." Tal answered and Ahsoka nodded and they started to play.

They played almost the whole night, laughing at the unfortunate soul that got to draw eight cards, drawing two cards when you forgot to say "UNO!", making jokes and finding out who has the most colorful vocabulary.

When they were tired, the game ending in various victories, they shuffled into another room, where they took the mattress out of their bunks and pressed them together so they would all sleep together and they talked Ahsoka into sleeping between them.

Ahsoka slept between Shiny and Chrome, who wrapped his arms around her shoulders, smiling at her tiredly, she giving him a smile back. Chrome wrapped his arms around her hips and Ahsoka felt safe as she fell asleep in their arms, safer than ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anakin will be an asshole in it, not to Ahsoka or his clones (maybe) but to someone else. And for that, you'll have to wait and see.


	4. Arc 1: The beginning of everything - Part 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let us see what is happening back on Coruscant, hmm?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Plot bunnies.
> 
> I think Padmé would be overall nice to the clones.
> 
> Also, I think I will be writing this series in Arcs?

Sighing, Padmé Amidala walked up the stairs into the Senate building, going past the threatening graffiti smudged in red on the walls, the cleaning droids trying to wash them off.

"Senator Amidala, are you alright?" Coming across Bail Organa, they walked together towards her office. "Yes, Senator Organa. Why do you ask?" "Some members of the Senate had threatening graffiti on their chambers and houses as well, everyone is worried and scared."

"What?" Padmé looked at him, wide eyed, stopping. "No one saw anything?" "No, Senator. Whoever did this must have planned it into detail, slipping past the security and the Coruscant guard." Padmé nodded and started walking again. "Whoever did this, it must be against the latest trial." Padmé's heart clenched at the thought of Ahsoka. "I agree with you, Senator." They neared Padmé's office. "The Chancellor requested that each senator will have at least one bodyguard at their disposal. And now, if you'll excuse me, I have some work to finish." Bail Organa gave Padmé a parting nod before walking off in the direction of his own office.

Padmé walked into her own office, closing the door behind her, looking at her desk and the ammount of paperwork. 

"You look good today." Padmé gasped and whirled around, slapping Anakin on the cheek. "Oh, Ani, I'm so sorry." Her apology was met with a chuckle and a smile. "A woman like you could take on Count Dooku if she id able to slap a Jedi in the face." "Oh, hush you." Padmé said with a smile smile, sitting behind her desk, taking the first datapad into her hand. 

Anakin walked next to her, resting his hand on her shoulder. "What would you say about the two of us sharing a dinner?" Padmé could feel a small smile tugging at her lips bit it quickly fell into a frown. "Ani, I would love to, but since there are death threats written everywhere that involves the Senators, each and every one of them, including me, will have a bodyguard at all times, it would be impossible for us to meet." She looked at him apologetically. "I'm sorry, Ani."

Anakin squeezed her shoulder, his brow furrowing. "Not fair." He squatted down to be near her. "Padmé, why don't we.... Why don't we just leave? To live together as husband and wife. Just the two of us." "Ani, the people need me-" "You've done enough for them." Padmé closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "No, Anakin. As there is still war, I will stay and help the people that need help and try to end the war." 

Their heads snapped to the door as there were three firm knocks. "It must be my bodyguard, hide!" Padmé hissed as Anakin darted somewhere and Padmé readjusted herself, reading the datapad. "Enter!" 

The door opened and she heard the heavy footsteps and she looked up to greet whoever walked in. Looking up from her work, the words what she was about to say, died on her tongue when she saw who was standing in front of her. 

Red and white Clone Trooper armor, the telling colors of a Coruscant guard, but it was different from others and the helmet. Painted red with a black shade added to it.

"Senator Padmé Amidala, Commander Fox of the Coruscant guard at your service." He saluted and then returned into his 'soldier' posture, his hands folded behind his back, legs slightly apart.

Padmé nodded, his name ringing a bell, she just hoped that Anakin somehow managed to get away, unless there would be hell. "Hello, Commander. Did they tell you about the graffiti?" Fox nodded. "Yes, sir. We had a briefing about it this morning." 

_"Sir." _Padmé thought. She knew that they were suppose to address their superiors like that, be it a man or a woman, since they were taught like from their early years. But Padmé didn't feel right about it since she was a woman and a senator - technically she was his superior but she didn't dwell on that - not his commanding officer.

"Ma'am." Padmé corrected. "Pardon me, s-" "Ma'am." Padmé cut him off. She knew, she was rude but she needed to get her point across. "I am no man nor your commanding officer." She stood up and walked towards him. "Did you understand me?" Padmé tried to sound soft. "Yes, s- ma'am." Padmé nodded and sat behind her desk again. "Please, take a seat." She gestured to the chair in front of her desk.

"S-Ma'am?" Padmé blinked up at him, even though his voice was distorted by the helmet, she could still hear the hint of fear but it was obsucer by the questioning tone. "Please, take a seat." Padmé gestured again and when Fox only followed the movement with his head, she added. "And if I order you? Will you take a seat." Padmé sat up straighter. "I order you to sit." 

Padmé watched as Fox let his hands fall as he slowly makes his way towards the chair and sits on it, looking tense and uncomfortable. "Are you alright?" "Yes... I mean... We, me and my boys, don't get to sit in an office," He gestured with his hand around the place. "Often. Never." 

Nodding, Padmé took the first datapad and placed it in front of her. "Well, from now on, if we ever discuss something, you get to sit, is that alright with you?" "Ma'am, I-I don't think we should-" "Is that alright with you?" Padmé asked again with a smile. "Yes, ma'am. If it's alright with you." Padmé smiled even more. "Of course it is." 

"Do you know anything about the vandals?" Padmé asked. "The vandals slipped past the security and the guards, mainly targeting the senate members and The Chancellor himself." Padmé nodded, frowning. "Nothing that I don't already know." She murmured. "Pardon me, ma'am?" "Nothing, Commander." 

Padmé checked her schedule, no meeting with anyone, no stand in front of the Senate. Good. She got up and offered her hand to Fox. "Come with me, please." _"Is this some sort of test?" _Fox stared at the offered hand and got up himself, without taking it.

Folding her hands on front of her, she walked out of her office, Fox two steps behind her, hands on his DC-17. Walking out of the Senate building and towards the vehicle. "I'm driving." "I didn't say anything, ma'am." Fox replied, sliding into the passenger's seat and Padmé noted, that even with the armor on, he moved gracefully and smoothly. _"I wonder if he got his name because of that? I'll ask him when he's comfortable around me enough." _

Starting up the engine, Padmé drove away from the Senate building and towards her place, sliding into the traffic. "May I ask, ma'am?" "Sure, go ahead." Padmé made her tone light. "Where are we heading, ma'am?" "To my place. I need to change into a more.... comfortable attire." Padmé answered with a small smile, glint in her eyes.

She parked the vehicle and exited, Fox following suit and together, they walked into Padmé's home. "Make yourself comfortable, Commander. I'll be right back." "Yes, ma'am." She slipped into her bedroom, closing the door behind her. Letting her hair fall free, slipping out of her robes, she dressed into a civilian clothing, tying her hair into a bun.

Putting her dress back in the dresser, she gave herself one last look in the mirror and seeming herself ready, she excited her bedroom. What she saw nearly made her groan.

Fox was standing perfectly still in the 'soldier' posture, patiently waiting. "Ma'am." "You didn't have to stand and wait like this." She said softly. "Ma'am, we aren't exactly allowed to use the property of others." Padmé bit her lip. "Sorry. I forgot." She took a deep breath. "Alright, we can go now." "Where are we going again, ma'am?" Fox asked.

"To visit the senators. I want to take pictures of the writing they have." 

"And compare it to the one on the main Senate building." Fox caught on quickly. "Although, shouldn't you leave this to the people that are equipped for the job?" Padmé stopped and Fox stopped too, keeping his distance. 

Padmé's mind wandered to the time when her uncle was poisoned and she had to find clues herself unless they wouldn't get anywhere and almost arrested the wrong person. "Lets just say that I want to be sure." She continued to walk towards her vehicle and Fox didn't ask more questions.

The ride towards their first target was spent in an uncomfortable silence, Padmé's grip on the wheel way too tight, her knuckles white and Fox didn't comment on it, looking out the window, a habit he picked up when he was just a shiny.

"We are here." Padmé parked the vehicle and both of them got out. Putting her hands on her hips and reading the bold, red letters over, she reached into her pocket but Fox stopped her with a slight touch of his hand on her forearm. "I got this ma'am." Fox walked closer and pressed his finger to the side of his helmet and after a while, he turned to look at her. "You can take pictures with your helmet?" Padmé asked, bewildered. 

"It can do a lot of things, ma'am. Every picture I take is automatically transferred into the datapad I always carry, ma'am." Sliding his skirt away, he patted the datapad in it. _"Ok. Wow." _Padmé thought and nodded with a smile and went back to her vehicle. "Alright, Commander. We have a lot of job to do." "Yes, ma'am."

* * *

When they were finally done, it was already a night time. Padmé decided to do the comparing in her home.

She could feel that she was getting tired after the whole day of driving around and asking her fellow senators. Glancing up at Fox who was staring intently on the photos - at least she assumed it - and didn't move at all.

"Remove your helmet, please." She must have started him, the way his shoulders were drawn up, his head snapping up to look at her, his body going stiff. "Pardon me, ma'am?" "Remove your helmet, please." Padmé spoke softly.

She could see Fox clench his fists for a split second before reaching for his helmet with his shaking fingers, making Padmé frown. Unclasping it from the air - tight line, he slowly took it off to reveal a face like any clone, the stress lines giving him a few more years and the bags under his eyes, but his hair longer and slicked back, greying at the temples, making Padmé frown even more.

"When was the last time you slept, Commander?" Padmé asked, looking at him as his eyed darted around the room. She noticed how vulnerable and scared he looked without his helmet. "Too much work." He answered and put his helmet back on, way too quickly and stood up abruptly. "The night shift should be here soon."

He stood at attention, waiting for the night shift before his communicator went off and he turned away to answer it. "Commander Fox, what is it?" 

_"Sir, there has been a mix up in the schedule, there will be no changing of shifts regarding Senator Padmé Amidala."_

"What?! You're telling me, there is no changing of shifts?"

_"No, sir. Sorry, sir."_

Unbeknown to Fox, while he argued with his troops, Padmé got up from her chair and moved to her bedroom, collecting spare sheets and a pillow and putting it on the couch.

Fox groaned as he ended the conversation and turned it off, rubbing the back of his neck. "It looks like, you're staying the night." Padmé said gleefully, motioning at the couch. "Ma'am, I -" "At least I'll keep an eye on you to get some well deserved rest." She smiled at him and then covered her mouth as she yawned. "Alright, time to get to bed. Goodnight!" She smiled at him again and went into her bedroom.

_"Damn it, woman!"_

* * *

Padmé hummed as she changed into her nightgown, letting her hair fall free and getting rid of her make - up and slipping under the covers. As she closed her eyes, someone approached her and touched her shoulder, making her gasp.

"Ani, what are you doing here?" She hissed at grinning Anakin. "I wanted to spend some time with my wife. Is it too much to ask for?" Anakin said, trying to climb into bed. "Anakin, this is hardly the time! Commander Fox is in the next room!" She hissed at him again.

There was a knock on the door. _"Senator Amidala is everything alright?" _"Yes, yes, I was reading just some article, it just surprised me!" There was shuffling on the other side of the door and Padmé hoped he took the bait. _"Alright. If you need anything, I'm right here." _"Yes, thank you!"

"Did you just say, Commander Fox?" Padmé could hear the anger in Anakin's voice. "Yes." She held up her finger. "No. And lower your voice." She sighed and rubbed her eyes. "Anakin, our relationship is very risky but right now it is outright dangerous. You have to leave." "How? The Commander is right there." He gestured to the door, smirking and Padmé sighed, looking up at the ventilation.

"Alright, alright, I'm going away." He gave her a quick kiss before he crawled out trough the ventilation system. Padmé sighed as she curled up alone in her bed, closing her eyes again.

Sometimes she wished that she could have her husband by her side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, a 19 yo marrying a 24 yo is a big yikes, since their romance in the 2nd movie is underdeveloped (Padmé going from 'Don't look at me like that, it makes me uncomfortable' and 'We can't' to 'I love you Ani' without that much of a 'eh?')
> 
> Also, Anakin is clearly obsessed and controlling (to some degree) over Padmé as shown in SWTCW and come on, a 9yo Anakin developed a crush on a 14yo Padmé and for whole 10 years, had a crush on her that developed into a 'one sided' love.
> 
> Yeah, no.
> 
> Now, I can come off as petty, but I'm speaking from experience.


	5. Arc 1: The Beginning of everything - Part 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: Mention of self-harm, depression and suicidal thoughts.

Fox snuggled more into the soft sheets and pillow, making a pleased whine as he was very content. He didn't remember when the mattress became so comfortable or soft, but it felt good, to not have disturbed sleep for once. And the quiet was a blessing too. No brothers hustling around, going for breakfast or getting ready for leave.

_Wait._

_It is quiet._

_Too quiet._

Fox blinked away the sleepiness and slowly sat up, looking around the place, trying to remember how he ended up on the couch in the first place. The sleepiness cleared up from his vision and he gasped, realizing where he was, scrambling out of the couch but getting tangled in the sheets instead and landing on the floor with a dull sound.

Padmé walked out of the kitchen quickly, wearing her night gown and her hair in a bun, looking worried. "Are you alright?" Fox scrambled up onto his feet, standing at attention "Yes, ma'am. I am alright." Padmé looked him up and down before expression softened. "Do you drink coffee?" "Yes, ma'am." She smiled at him. "How would you like it, then?" 

"A bit of cream, please."

"Just a moment."

Padmé disappeared in the kitchen and Fox looked down on himself. He was wearing his blacks and lower armor, the rest stacked neatly next to the couch. He kicked the sheets away and sat back down, taking his boots and putting them back on. 

Walking out of the kitchen, Padmé carried a tray with two plates and a coffee, setting it down on the coffee table. "Did you sleep well, Commander? And be truthful." She looked him in the eyes as she handed him the plate with scrambled eggs, roasted bacon and some vegetables. "I did actually, ma'am. Better than ever, ma'am."

She smiled at him, her brown eyes shining and Fox got lost in them. "I'm glad to hear that." She started to eat her breakfast and Fox started to eat it too, uncertain, but when he took the first bite, he couldn't help but moan at the taste and dive into it with a newfound vigor, missing Padmé's look.

He ate everything, scrapping the plate clean, not letting any piece of food go to waste and when he tasted the coffee, he literally melted into the couch, savouring every last drop.

"Are they feeding you properly?" 

Padmé's voice pulled him out of his 'good-food-drugged' state, looking at her worried expression and awkwardly placed the cup of coffee back down, rubbing his glowed hands. "Yes."

_A lie._

_A lie towards the Senator._

_The Coruscant guards are getting more awful food than the soldiers on the frontlines._

_Talk about cozy life._

Padmé didn't comment on it, instead, finishing her breakfast. Fox tried not to look embarrassed or vulnerable, opting to put on his helmet instead and stand up. "Ma'am, I have to inform that I'll need to return into the barracks, refreshen and then go into the Coruscant guard central to write a report." 

She smiled up at him. "Then it looks like I'm going with you." "Pardon me, ma'am?" Fox was glad that his voice didn't crack at this but even if it happened, he was sure his voice filters could hide it. Putting everything on the tray, Padmé stood up, holding it. "You are my bodyguard, Commander. You are suppose to escort me wherever I go, so it is only fair that I escort you." 

She walked into the kitchen, putting everything into the sink and going into her bedroom to change. Taking her usual clothing and doing her hairstyle she walked towards Fox. "Are we ready to go?" 

"Yes, ma'am."

* * *

That was a mistake.

A big mistake.

The barracks were bustling with energy, his 'brothers' - he was using the term very lightly, they didn't saw him as a brother - coming from and going on their shifts.

"Stay close to me, ma'am." Fox said over his shoulder as Padmé was walking after him, shoulder to shoulder just one step away, shoulders squared, head held high.

As they were passing more and more people that were greeting, nodding and saluting to Senator Amidala, who greeted them in return and stiffly saluting to Fox without greeting. "Here." Fox stopped in front of his door and slid a key card in, entering his password and slipping in, Padmé behind him.

Fox gestured around the small room, barely fitting the two of them. "Welcome into my humble suite." Padmé looked around, complimenting it. "Small but nice." Fox nodded and gestured towards the bed. "Have a seat. I will take a while." He walked into another room, most likely the shower room, locking the door behind him.

Padmé took a seat on the bed and froze, her hand feeling the mattress. "This thing is so uncomfortable. No wonder he doesn't get enough sleep." She felt the pillow too, pressing her hand into it, almost feeling nothing in it and the sheets were rough.

Hearing the water being turned on, she decided to take a closer look around. The desk he had was tidy, stack of documents on the left side, a lamp a pen holder and a holographic photo. Taking it, she looked at it. She recognized Commander Thorne by the armour by Fox's right side, another Commander by his left - judging by the armour - she did not recognize.

The door unlocked and she placed the picture down, Fox walked out, helmet clipped to his belt. "I'm ready, ma'am. I just need to write a report." Padmé nodded and followed Fox towards his office. 

"Hey, there _vod. _Where have you been the whole night?" Thire wrapped his arm around Fox's shoulder in a friendly hug, nodding to Padmé. "On duty." Fox replied, making Thire rise his eyebrows. "The whole day? _Fox'ika, _I knew you had a bad habits but this is ridiculous." 

"Commander... Um...." 

"Thire. Commander Thire, sir." Thire stood at attention.

"Commander Thire, there was a mix up in shifts, so Commander Fox was forced to stay due to surprising circumstances. Do not be afraid, he got plenty of sleep." Padmé and Thire exchanged smiles, making Fox groan. "I need to write my report." 

While Fox was writing his report, Thire and Padmé engaged in a conversation, taking a seat at Thire's desk. "Who were you assigned to, Commander?" "I was assigned to Senator Organa, sir." Padmé smiled at that, knowing that this man - is he Fox's friend? - was in good hands. 

"Is Senator Organa treating you well?"

Thire smiled. "Of course, sir. Senator Organa treated me like a person that very first moment, having a conversation with Senator Organa is very pleasing and he even asked me about my opinion on the politics." 

Nodding, Padmé glanced over to Fox before looking back at Thire. "Are you two friends?" She talked in a hushed tone. "I try to be a friend to him. The key word, 'try'. I have no idea what happened, Fox is very distant from other _vods, _mostly keeping to himself even during lunch, talking to others out of necessity, sir."

Padmé nodded and stood up when Fox was walking towards them. "Everything is finished, ma'am." 

"We may return into the Senate building, I have some meetings to attend to and a job to finish." Fox stood at attention and nodded at Padmé's words, Thire standing up. "Mind if I walk with you?" 

"No. Not at all, Commander." Padmé smiled at him.

* * *

Before they parted ways, Thire squeezed Fox's arm in an affectionate manner. "Take care, _vod. _Promise me, you try not to stress too much with your health." 

Thire knocked on the door to Bail Organa's office and entered upon hearing the permission. "Ah, Commander Thire, I hope you slept well?" This is the last thing Fox years before the door close and he follows Padmé into her own office and she already is checking her schedule. 

"I have a meeting with Senator Mon Mothma first and then a meeting with Senator Organa in the afternoon. After that, we could look at the pictures again we took yesterday, what do you say, Commander?" 

"I agree, ma'am." 

_Don't tell her, how you didn't find any difference or anything, because you were tired and hungry._

_Don't tell her, how the wounds burn and sting even now._

Nodding, Padmé sat at her desk, doing paperwork. "Take a seat Commander, we have some time before the meeting with Senator Mothma." 

Fox took a deep breath. "Ma'am that would be inappropriate. I need to stay alert in case anything happened." 

This time, Padmé did groan. "Commander, please, we talked about this. There is no need for you to stand while I am working. You will stand plenty during the meetings to stay alert. Now, please sit." When he didn't move, she used other tactics. "I order you to sit, Commander."

This time, Fox did move, his legs moving on their own accord and he took a seat across from her, fluid and graceful, yet stiff.

_"This is not good. Absolutely not good. How can I make him comfortable around me?" _Padmé thought but decided not to dwell on it, continuing in her paperwork. 

After a few hours, Padmé glanced up at Fox, who was slumped in his seat, his elbows resting on his thighs, head hung low.

_"Is he sleeping?" _Padmé smiled to herself and it quickly fell when Fox shifted and readjusted his armor plates. _"Probably not." _

Checking the time, Padmé stood up, collecting few datapads. "My meeting with Senator Mothma is due, Commander. Let us meet with her." Fox stood up and followed Padmé, ignoring the looks of disgust and despise being thrown his way, growing used to it the longer he stayed on Coruscant. 

Padmé noticed the stares, this time not being directed at her but at her escort, fighting, trying to keep her expression neutral. _"Why are they like this? Don't they see they keep Coruscant save? The people? Us?"_

Knocking on the door from Mon Mothma's door and entering upon hearing, "Enter!". "Senator Amidala! It is good to see you!" 

"Likewise, Senator Mothma."

The two women exchanged firm handshakes and kisses on the cheeks, Fox and Thorne nodding to one another. 

"And who would you be?" Fox stiffened when Senator Mothma directed her attention on him, looking him over, smiling. "Commander Fox of Coruscant guard, Senator Mothma." 

Mon Mothm extended her hand towards Fox and he was staring at it for two seconds before doing the handshake. "A pleasure to meet you, Commander Fox. I hope no trouble arose yet?" "No, Senator, everything seems to be fine." Fox glanced at Thorne, who was rocking at his heels and Fox was sure that he was smirking under his helmet.

"Good." Mon Mothma turned to Padmé. "Shall we begin?" 

As they started to discuss politics and future plans, Thorne drifted over to Fox. "Heard you didn't sleep in the barracks, _Fox'ika." _Thorne nudged him into his side and Fox swatted his hand away. "Not you too." Fox didn't want to deal with this, he just wanted to do his duty. In _peace, _thank you very much.

"I didn't mean it like that." Thorne folded his hands behind his back. "How have you been? And tell me the truth, _Fox'ika." _"Never better. There is 'calm'," He gestured in the air, "And I'm glad there is."

_It hurts._

_Everything hurts._

_Each day I crumble under the pressure._

_And I fear the day when I can't take it anymore._

_I'm scared._

_And alone._

_Don't prod or I'll break._

"If you say so." Thorne gave Fox's hand a gentle squeeze. "I know it's rough when the frontliners return and are on leave but don't take it to heart, _Fox'ika. _If you need someone to talk to, I'm here." 

The ladies exchanged parting words and Padmé and Fox were on their way to Bail Organa. "Are you friends with Commander Thorne and Commander Thire?" Padmé asked, looking over her shoulder. "We are on clear working terms." Fox replied.

_I don't want them to hurt me._

Entering Bail Organa's office, they receive a warm welcome, Bail offering the two a herb tea. 

"Are you going to stare a hole into it or actually drink it?" Fox looked up at Thire, who was sitting across from him on the couch, smirking. Sighing, Fox removed his helmet and placed it next to him, taking the cup into his hand. "Jesus Christ, _vod, _you look terrible." Thire commented, drawing Fox's attention.

Even though he still got a decent sleep, he still had bags under his eyes and he looked worn out and tired. "Thank you for pointing out the obvious." Fox grumbled, taking a sip, ignoring how it burned his tongue and warmed his gloves.

_"Vod...." _Thire said softly, worry written on his face, studying Fox. "Stop. Just stop. I'm...." Fox sighed again, placing the cup down and running his hand trough his hir. "It's nothing."

_Everything hurts._

"Thank you for meeting with me, Senator Amidala. I believe the next Senate stand could work out in our favor." Bail and Padmé stood and exchanged handshakes.

"Thank you, Senator Organa, I believe so too." Smiling, Bail escorted them to the door, giving them one more goodbye before they parted ways.

Bail collected the unfinished tea and disposed of it. "Looks like your colleague is not a big fan of tea, is he?" Looking at Thire, he noticed his posture, staring at the door, shoulders slumped. "Did something happened?" Bail placed his hand on Thire's shoulder, who stiffened momentarily before relaxing, shaking his head. "I don't know."

* * *

"Here, Senator Amidala." Fox pointed at the two photos of graffiti, taken on two different houses. "This one looks like it was written with anger, fast and messy, but this one is more neat? Like, whoever wrote it was calm."

Padmé hummed as she studied it, looking it over. "You are right, Commander. So maybe it is more than one person?" 

"It could be. The writing looks different but it could be just because of the emotions." Fox suggested taking two different photos into his hands.

"Take off your helmet, please." Padmé said softly, trying not to startle him, but he still stiffened, dropping the photos, his helm snapping up at her. "Pardon me?"

_"What is he so afraid of?" _

"Take of your helmet, please." Padmé said again, more softly, keeping her posture relaxed, expression kind.

Fox's hands trembled as he reached for his helmet and removed it, resting it on hid thighs, eyes casted downwards. "Why?" He whispered, unable to look up, his eyes would betray him.

Padmé stood up and saw Fox flinch, she slowly walked around her desk and crouched next to Fox, taking his free hand into hers. "You don't have to be scared around me. If you are scared that I will hurt you, I will not. I never could nor will." She gently squeezed his hand, forcing him to look at her, vulnerability in his eyes. "You are here for me, Fox and I am here for you." 

Fox averted his gaze and freed his hand, putting his helmet back on. "There is no mix - up this time. The night shift will be here in a few minutes." He stood up and to the side, folding his hands behind his back.

Padmé stood up too, folding her hands in front of her and going back to her work.

There was a knock and Fox went to his subordinate to fill him in on the situation and Padmé took advantage of it, slipping into the kitchen. "Before you go, Commander." They turned to look at her, handing Fox a white box. "This is for you." 

"Thank you, ma'am." He gave her a curt nod and walked out, the other guard giving him a stiff salute.

Padmé turned his attention towards him. "Are you hungry?"

* * *

If Fox could, he would bolt into his room and lock the door.

Instead, the trip too agonisingly long, gripping the white box in both hands, slightly loosening the grip only when he reached his room and stumbled in, putting the box on his desk and discarding his armor into an organized pile.

Taking a seat on his bed, he toyed with his DC - 17, thinking about the options.

If he did it, who would care?

Would it be quick?

Or would it be painful?

He squeezed his eyes shut and willed the thoughts away, putting his DC back in its holter, tugging at his hair. _"Kriff. _I still have a job to do."

He looked at the box and took it, opening the lid, his breath hitched.

Inside were, two pieces of steak, mashed potatoes and few pieces of vegetables. He choked on a sob that was threatening to escape and he covered his mouth.

_"You are too kind, Padmé. Way too kind." _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy, this is long.


	6. Arc 1: The beginning of everything - Part 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This will be switching between Coruscant and Shadowrika.
> 
> Warning: Explicit depiction of Self-harm, bad eating habits

_Coruscant _

"Ma'am?" The clone asks, drawing Padmé's attention. "Yes?" He was silent for a moment before shaking his head. "Nothing, ma'am. Forget I asked." 

Padmé frowned at that, walking closer to him. "Is something wrong?" "No, ma'am, everything's fine." His voice cracked, audible even trough the helmet filters.

"You know you can tell me, right?" Padmé said softly. "It's.... It's, Commander Fox, ma'am." Padmé's blood ran cold.

* * *

Fox couldn't sleep.

Rolling and tossing around, he sat up with a grunt, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed, reaching for his bedside lamp and turning it on.

Running his fingers trough his slightly messed up hair, sighing, he reached into a drawer in the nightstand, pulling out a lighter.

No one knew he had it - _it was against regulations, after all _\- keeping it hidden from everyone. No one knew he was doing it, no one knew about the burn marks on his skin.

_He got the lighter after he helped to apprehend a thief, who stole from tobbaconist's and the shop owner showed him gratitude by letting him pick something for free. Ridiculous. But he picked up a silver lighter with a fox's head carved on it._

He flicked it on, staring into the small flame as it flicked, he rised his other arm to his eye level and brought the ignited lighter under his forearm, bitting his lower lip as he burned his already burned skin, making it hurt more, more painful.

A pained grunt escapes him as tears prickle at the corners of his eyes, yet he doesn't stop, he continues to hold it there, the smell of burnt skin filling the room.

He lowers his arm, _satisfied _with the results, he switched his hands, his right hand shaking as he ignited the lighter again, doing the same to his left hand.

The stench of burnt flesh is too much to handle, making Fox nauseous but it was drowned out by the searing pain shooting trough his nerves, flexing his fingers, testing if he could use them, tears rolling down his cheeks.

He went into his bathroom to rumage trough the cabinet in search for some bandages. Finding some, he cringed at the texture and the dirty yellow coloring. "Fuck, I need a new one."

Peeking out of his room around the empty hallway, walking swiftly towards the medical center only in his blacks, the outfit sticking to his freshly burnt skin, making it more painful.

He slipped into the room, sterile and disinfected smell hitting him, making him scrunch his nose. _He always hated this place._

Looking around, he tried to guess where the medics keep the bandages and started to look trough the drawers. 

"May I help you?" 

Fox jumped at the voice, looking up to find a blue armored medic standing in the doorway to the supply room. The medic of 501st. _"Shit."_

"Just looking for some bandages." He stood up and ran his fingers trough his hair. "May I ask what for?" The medic closed the supply room and locked it, walking towards him. "I sprained my wrist during exercise." Fox smiled sheepishly, making the medic tilt his head and extend his hand. "Let me have a look."

_"Shit!" _"There's no need, I'll just take the bandages and leave, I don't want to bother you." 

The medic shook his head. "Oh no, you're not bothering me at all. Any brother who has a medical problem is becoming my duty to take care off. Let me see."

"Forget it." Fox turned around to leave but the medic grabbed his burnt forearm, making him cry out in pain, both of them freezing. The medic moved slowly, carefully, as if trying not to scare him off, rolling up the sleeve of the blacks. He frowned upon seeing the burnt skin, looking up at Fox, who looked away.

Guiding him to sit on a bed, the medic dragged over a chair, inspecting it further. "It's fresh." He murmured and took the other hand, rolling the sleeve up too, shooting a glare at Fox. "What-" Fox shook his head, new tears prickling in his eyes. "No."

The medic didn't say anything, getting to work, gently cleaning the burns, then applying some bacta on it before bandaging it. "Please, don't say it on anyone." Fox said softly, averting his gaze. "Patient confidentality." The medic said. "Thank you..."

"Kix." Fox looked up at him. "The name's Kix." Fox nodded and Kix cupped the back of his neck. "If you need someone to talk to, I'm here. Here," Kix scribbled something on a piece of paper, handing it to him. "My comm number." Fox nodded. "Thank you."

"Get some sleep, _vod. _You look awful." Kix said softly, patting his shoulder. "I'll.... I'll try." Fox nodded and walked out of the medical room.

* * *

_Shadowrika_

"Forge, you need to eat." Chrome walked into one of the lounge areas, carrying a tray with a steaming bowl of soup and a warm drink, placing it in front of him on the coffee table. "Not hungry." Forge grumbled.

"Forge, you haven't eaten anything the whole day. It is very unhealthy." Chrome said softly, crossing his arms. "Not hungry." Forge repeated, frowning up at Chrome.

Sighing, Chrome sat next to him, taking the bowl and spoon, scooping first spoonful up. "Aaaah." Chrome held it in front of Forge, who was scowling at it. "Say 'Aaah'." Chrome smiled when Forge deflated and took the first spoonful, his stomach grumbling when the first warm food settled in his stomach.

Chrome was smiling as he was feeding Forge the soup, refusing to give him the spoon, knowing he wouldn't eat all of it. 

"Chrome..." Forge tried to take the spoon and bowl again but Chrome would pull back, keeping it out of Forge's reach, making him groan. "I'm not a child. Let me feed myself." "I have no guarantee that you will eat everything." Chrome said softly, taking another spoonful.

Chrome continued to feed Forge, until he said, "Last one." Forge ate it and Chrome nodded, patting him on the back. "Good. You'll need your strengh." Forge scoffed at that, rubbing at his gloved hands. "You're nice. Too nice."

Chrome shrugged. "In all this bad, there needs to be something good." Forge rubbed his gloved hands again. "Thank you." He said it so softly, Chrome almost missed it. "You're welcome, _vod._" 

Chrome collected the tray and bowl, leaving the warm drink on the coffee table. "Have you seen Shiny? I can't find him anywhere."

Forge scoffed. "Probably with our new Commander." He spat the title like it was poison, making Chrome laugh. "Give her a chance, Forge. She is a nice person. Hardened by the war, yes but still a nice person." 

Shaking his head, Forge picked up the warm drink, relishing in how it warmed his gloves. "We'll see about that."

\-------------------------------------

_Coruscant_

"What do you mean by, that?" Padmé asked, frowning. "I...He..." The guard trailed off, seeming lost. "Commander Fox is distant, yes, but when the frontliners return? Commander is nothing more than a shell of his former self."

Padmé's frown deepened, her mind going to the times when she was speaking to him without problems. _"Was it without problems?" _She asked herself, smoothing out her features. "Was it always like this? I mean when the soldiers," She gestured with her hand. "Return from fighting in the Outer Rim?"

The guard nodded. "Yes, ma'am. Our relationship with.... Other _vods _is strained at best, sometimes there is bickering....." The guard deflated. "Who Am I kidding, there are full on fights."

They migrated towards the couches and Padmé listened intently as her new guard laid out his worries and gossips, becoming animated in his speech, his posture relaxing more and more. Padmé made a tea and brought biscuits along with it, both of them chatting sipping at their tea. 

"How rude of me, I haven't even asked for your name." Padmé smiled at him apologetically, which he just waved his hand at it. "Don't worry about it." He looked down sheepishly before looking up at her. "The name's Sentinel. I got my name because I'm usually in the Watchtower."

Padmé nodded. "This is how you get your names?" Sentinel shrugged. "Depends. You either choose your name, your batchmates give you name or your superior officer." She nodded again and tapped her chin. "Do you know how Commander Fox got his name?" Sentinel smiled at her. "You'll have to ask him yourself." 

\--------------------

Forge slipped into the showers early to avoid the rest of his so called team. Stripping out of his blacks, he rubbed at his scared right hand, trying to get the itchiness out of it. "Why is it itching?" He mumbled, turning on the water.

Groaning at the warm water as it ran down his body, tense muscles relaxing, he tilted his head forward, letting it beat on his neck. He grabbed a cloth and a soap, scrubbing himself slowly, massaging, groaning during the process.

As he finished, he rinsed the soap off and dried, wrapping it around his hips and collecting his things, heading out. He came across Ahsoka in the hallway and when she opened her mouth to speak, he slipped into his room.

"Fuck." He cursed, dragging his hand over his face, rubbing his eyes, then changing into his night outfit. Laying down on his uncomfortable bunk, he stared into the far wall, mind wandering.

_"I wonder if I get some sleep today?" _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wth is happening on the phone AO3 version?


	7. Arc 1: The beginning of everything - Part 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> !!WARNING: SMUT!!!!!!
> 
> !!!!NON-PENATRATIVE SEX BUT STILL!!!
> 
> I separated it if you're not comfortable (I think you all are, just making sure.}

"Do you think Forge will trust me someday?" Ahsoka asked softly, looking up at Shiny, who shrugged. "Who knows? He's a tough nut to crack." 

He rested his head between her montrals, his arms wrapped around her middle, her hands resting on his as they sat near the crystals, Shiny leaning against the wall and she between his legs.

Ahsoka sighed. "I'm afraid that if we do not learn to trust one another, we might fail as a team." She got a faraway look. "I don't want that. You're my new family and I don't want to lose you."

Shiny hummed, pressing his lips between her montrals and closing his eyes, offering a silent support which she accepted, leaning more into him. "It's going to be alright. Me and Chrome are great friends and Chrome is a medic, patience like a Saint and Bomber, Smoke and Hitter are keeping to themselves, yes but they take orders well and are team players. Tal is... Well.... He's shy."

"And Tiger?" Ahsoka pulled away slightly and looked at Shiny. "What about him?" Shiny pressed his lips together. "He's different. He always was." He pulled her to him again. "Don't think about it. Just relax." He whispered, making Ahsoka shudder.

"What? Cold?" Shiny pulled her closer, resting his chin between her montrals again. "No, I'm fine." Ahsoka extended her hand to the nearest crystal and rested her palm on it. "I can feel something but I'm not sure what." 

Shiny touched it too. "I feel calm? Maybe if-" He didn't finish, instead placed his hand over Ahsoka's, making her lekku get a bit darker blue. Focusing on her connection to the Force, she felt Shiny's emotions, _the calm, content, protectiveness of him family and..... Of, Force._"

Ahsoka's lekku got even more darker, shifting in place. "Uncomfortable?" Shiny mummbled and she shook her head, forgetting that he was resting his chin between her montrals, making him grunt as she accidentally hit him. "Sorry."

"It's fine." He reasured her, his thumb rubbing her stomach abstimendedly, making her blush and her breath hitch. "Sorry." 

He wanted to pull back but Ahsoka grabbed his hands, keeping them wrapped around her. "No. Please, keep doing that." "This?" He rubbed her stomach with his thumb again, placing his hand on hers again, Ahsoka releasing a shaky sigh. "Better?"

"Yes."

Ahsoka leaned into him again, pressing herself into his groin, making him inhale and when she pulled his other hand to wrap around her middle, he held her as they rutted against one another.

Turning around in his lap, he gripped her butt, pulling her flush against him as they kissed hungrily, moaning softly into the kiss.

Shiny gathered the last of his willpower to pull away, stopping Ahsoka from kissing him further. "Do you want this?" He held her gaze, her eyes glassy and her lips parted and puffy. "Yes." She said breathlessly going to kiss him again but he stopped her again. "I don't want you to do something you'll regret." 

"Please." She begged, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I want this. I want all of this, I want you." Was desperation speaking? Was it that she missed the close bond she had with the 501st?

Ahsoka didn't care about that, all she cared about was that she wanted Shiny, badly and right now. Kissing him again, hunger and lust, he growled, sliding his hands over her baren back.

* * *

_!!!!SPICY!!!!_

* * *

Ahsoka moaned as Shiny slid one of his hands under her shirt to fondle her breast, tweaking her nipples, making her jerk and arch into the touch, running her hands trough his hair, making him sigh.

They parted for a while, panting, Ahsoka helping Shiny to roll up her shirt, having easier access to her breasts, latching his mouth on the first nub and sucking, using his teeth to gently pull, using his tongue to smooth it over.

Ahsoka found some clasps on the armor, fidling with them and Shiny reached up and helped her, tossing his shoulder and chest armor aside, Ahsoka slid her hands under his upper blacks, running them over hard muscles, making him growl, rolling them over on their side.

"Please." Whispering pleas against his lips, removing his crotch piece, stroking his hardness trough his blacks, bitting her lips as he removed his gloves and slid his hand down her pants.

A choked out moan escaped her as he caressed her folds, taking his time exploring her, wanting to know what made her fall apart, made her moan.

Ahsoka carefully, almost shyly, pulled the erect cock out, giving it a few strokes, Shiny rewarding her with groans and breathless moans. "Spit into your hand." He instructed and she did just that, finding out that it was better for both of them.

Ahsoka jolted and moaned as he rubbed her sensitive nub, smearing her own slickness along her folds. "Tell me if anything hurts." He whispered, sliding one finger in, Ahsoka's expression twisting in pleasure, silencing her moan with a kiss.

Stroking the thick shaft faster as the one finger moved inside of her, stirring something new, making her pant and moan, nuzzling Shiny's neck.

Second finger slipped in and Ahsoka saw stars. Her body going rigid, mouth open in an silent moan, he core tightening around the fingers, her hand squeezing Shiny's cock.

This, Ahsoka coming undone on his fingers, stilling with intense pleasure, trying to milk his fingers, he put his other hand in front of his cock, catching his semen in his hand, not wanting to dirty Ahsoka further.

Ahsoka mewled as Shiny removed his fingers and she let go of his deflating cock, looking each other in the eyes, they kissed again, slowly.

* * *

Ahsoka rested her head on Shiny's chest, listening to his beating heart and he rubbing soothing circles on her back, rearranging themselves after they got properly dressed again.

"We should head back, others will be worried." Shiny said lowly. "Chrome will be worried the most." Ahsoka added, looking up at him, finding him looking up at the dark sky.

She could sense the mash of emotions and she reached up to caress his cheek, making him look down at her. "Don't blame yourself, please. I wanted it and I don't regret it." She moved to stand up, offering him her hand and he took it with some difficulty, snapping his armor back in place.

Upon returning back to base, Chrome cornered them, asking where they have been, asking if they got injured.

"No, good doc. We just lost track of time, that's all."

"Thank you for your concern Chrome, but we are alright."

This calmed Chrome down enough to say, "Next time just comm me."

Shiny went straight into his room and Ahsoka didn't stop him, going for the showers. She came across Forge, who walked out of the shower in nothing but a towel around his waist.

She opened her mouth to speak but he went into his room and Ahsoka blinked at the fast retreat. 

_"Not good." _Was her thought as she went into the shower, trying to think of a way that her team could trust one another without killing each other first.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No real sex will happen until Arc 3.


	8. Arc 1: The beginning of everything - Part 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Swearing. A lot.  
(This is where Ahsoka starts to learn how to swear.)

"Fuck, shit!" Forge cursed, when je checked the monitor for the millionth time as it blared 'ERROR' in red bold letters. Ahsoka stood frozen in the doorway, mouth agape at the excessive language.

She never heard the clones curse in Sta_ndard _only in _Mando'a, _never knowing what it really meant. But this? This was very colourful vocabulary.

Ahsoka watched as Forge went on all fours again, rummaging trough the wires and trying to get the computer working but it blared at him again, making him even more angry and he punched the table with both of his fists. "Fucking, piece of shit, it never works right!" 

"How can I help?" Ahsoka walked into the room, smiling, trying to be friendly. "You can help by pissing the right off." Forge growled, not turning to look at her, missing how she bristled at that. "Excuse me?" Ahsoka froze in one place. "You heard me."

Ahsoka marched up to him and forced him to turn around, grabbing him by the shoulder when he stood up, looking at her like she was bellow him. _"Like hell I am!" _She thought, anger bubbling inside her chest. "I never did anything to you and I never will. I'm sorry for what happened to you, I really am, but don't take your anger out on me. I'm not like Krell."

Something flashed in Forge's eyes and he moved quickly, slamming Ahsoka against the opposite table, making her bend at and awkward angle, some things rolling off the table. "You're not the first Jedi not will be the last that I'm working with." He growled, getting close to her face. "You will probably treat us the same as the other Jedi. Like. A. Piece. Of. Disposable. Shit." He said slowly, making Ahsoka inhale sharply and push him away.

"Commander! Forge!" Ahsoka looked up the back of the tall clone, standing between her and Forge. "Please, stop. Both of you, we are suppose to be a team." Tal said softly, his hands rised in a placating manner. There was a snort from Forge. "As long as she's here, we'll never be a team."

Forge walked away like nothing happened, like he didn't just insult her, like he didn't just raised a hand on her.

Ahsoka jumped when Tal placed a hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright?" Ahsoka nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine." Rubbing her arms, she walked out of the room and out of the base, standing on the landing pad, looking up at the sky.

How easy it would be just to start a ship and fly away, far, far away from this place, to start a new life, without the Jedi Order, no war, just piece.

But how could she live in peace? She was raised by war, in the Jedi Order, taught their ways since she was 4. How could she live without it now. 

Others made it seem so easy to just desert, leave everything behind and start a new life, take on a completely new identity.

_"You will probably treat us the same as the other Jedi. Like. A. Piece. Of. Disposable. Shit." _

Ahsoka shook her head, trying to rid herself of Forge's words, but they kept on repeating, making her dizzy, stumbling and someone steadied her, holding her by the shoulders. Ahsoka looked up to see Chrome's concerned eyes. "Commander Tano, come with me, please."

The walk into the med room was spent in silence, Chrome supporting Ahsoka, her legs feeling like a jelly, her knees buckling.

Chrome sat her down on the bed and ran a scan over her, listening to her heartbeat and breathing, pressing down on her stomach, checking her limbs.

"You're not eating properly enough, Commander. I must instruct you to eat bigger rations." Chrome scribbled something down and looked at her intently and Ahsoka got lost in his beautiful eyes. "You miss everyone, don't you?" Ahsoka closed her eyes. "Don't bottle it up, Commander. It will only eat you up from the inside until nothing is left."

"The Jedi Code forbids us to form attachments and use emotions in any negative way." Ahsoka dropped her gaze, unable to look at Chrome any longer. "Do you think sorting feelings that way is healthy?" Chrome asked softly, waiting, taking Ahsoka's chin between his thumb and forefinger, making her look up at him.

"Is it healthy, Commander?" Chrome asked again. "It's the only way I know." Ahsoka slid down from the bed, hugging herself as she walked to her room. Chrome closed his eyes for a moment before comming Tal and Shiny.

* * *

"We're here, what do you need, doc?" Shiny said cheekily, followed by Tal who had to duck into the doorway.

"Take a seat, both of you." Chrome gestured at the chairs, Shiny and Tal sitting down, making Shiny frown. "You don't look good, doc."

"Commander Tano is getting bored and Forge's words are getting to her and her food intake is below the healthy charts." Chrome read from his notes, looking up at the two. "What do you suggest? That we lock up Forge?" Shiny rubbed at his jaw. "Now, that wouldn't be half bad." 

Tal got a far away look in his eyes before focusing back on Chrome. "Maybe Commander Tano needs a challenge." His two brothers turned to look at him. "Like someone who is Forge but at the same time not? Forge knows how to hurt with words and attitude, he knows how to get to people. Maybe we need someone, who will make Commander Tano defend her post as a Commander."

"So what, you're telling us that she needs someone to doubt herself even more?" Shiny quirked a brow at that. "No, that's not what I meant. If we get someone who isn't a totall ass, but still questions orders to challenge Ahsoka and take her minds of things." Tal explained, looking at Shiny and Chrome.

"I don't know, Tal. I just hope that everything will be alright." Chrome rubbed his eyes tiredly. "It will be, _vod'ika. _It will be." Tal squeezed Chrome's hand.

* * *

Ahsoka wondered how Skyguy and Rex were doing. 

Are they on a mission?

Are they on leave?

Is the 501st doing some pranks?

Did Rex punish someone with cleaning duty?

Did Skyguy got himself into trouble again?

Did Skyguy jumped into a problem, head on?

A sob escaped her lips as she thought these things, covering her mouth with her hand to struggle them as she cried, her whole body shaking.

There were two knocks on her door and she took time to compose herself, taking a deep breath. "Go away!"

"Commander, please, let us in." 

Who it could be? Probably Shiny or Chrome. Or maybe Tal.

Taking a deep breath, Ahsoka opened the door, freezing in surprise, not expecting Smoke and Bomber - regular black hair, half of his face scared, the pattern going down his neck and disappeared under his shirt. "Let us in, please."

Ahsoka thought about not letting them in, about being alone, yet she stepped aside for them to come in.

They gently guided her onto the bed, Bomber laying on his back, pressing both Smoke and Ahsoka to his sides, making them rest their heads on his chest.

"Don't be afraid to ask for help, Commander." Bomber murmured before he drifted off, followed by Smoke and Ahsoka watched them, how peacefully they slept. Her eyelids getting heavy, falling asleep too.

During the night, when tears dripped down onto Bomber's chest, he raised his hand, caressing the wet cheek, as long as she needed the comfort, calming down and snuggling into his chest, his hamd resting on her arm, making her feel safe and at home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I'm making Forge hella unlikeable but the warrior I'm about to add will be like that too.  
They'll come around just bear with me.


	9. Arc 1: The beginning of everything - Part 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Bad healthcare, mention of self-harm 
> 
> (Time skip of two weeks.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we are back on Coruscant. This ARC is surely nearing its end, I have a huge muse for it since I've already written all the ARCs.

Fox jolted from his nightmare filled sleep, rubbing his eyes and stretching, his tight muscles loosening, joints popping.

He huffed when another knock, more urgent rattled his door and he got up grogily, scratching the back of his head. "I'm coming, I'm coming, jeez." He opened them and squinted into the hallway light, focusing on the medic standing there. "Kix?" Fox croaked, rubbing his eyes. "What are you doing here?"

"May I come in?" Kix phrased it like a question, but his tone suggested anything but, more like an order. "Sure." Fox stepped aside and allowed Kix to enter, turning on the lights. Kix looked around his room before gesturing to the bed. "Sit." 

Fox sat down on the bed and Kix borrowed the chair, sitting across from him, taking Fox's hand into his, running his fingers over the bandages, checking them. "Did you change them?" Kix looked into Fox's eyes, who was unable to hold his gaze. "There wasn't enough time." There was no point in lying. 

Kix sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "Did you at least reaplied the bacta?" Fox shook his head 'no' and Kix resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. "Where do you have the bandages?"

Fox got up and walked into the shower, snatching the bandages and bringing them to Kix. Sitting back down, Kix set to work in removing the old bandages, frowning and clicking his tongue. "If you won't take care of it, it might get infected." Kix said casually as he applied the ointment and bandaged it with fresh bacta bandages.

Kix looked over his handiwork and then whacked Fox upside the head. "You want to lose your hands or what?" Fox didn't say anything and Kix pulled him into a hug. "Fox, talk to me, please." Keeping his voice soft, he pulled back to look at Fox, who was silent.

Kix checked the time and slowly stood up. "I'll leave you be, you have to get to work early. And one more thing," Kix rested his hand on Fox's shoulder, making him look up. "Don't overdo it. Take a few days off if needed be. I'll write it up for you if they want receipt." Kix gave him a small smile and walked out of the room.

* * *

Fox ignored the itching and burning on his forearms as he made his way towards the office of Senator Amidala, ignoring the sneers and disgusted looks being thrown his way.

Knocking on the door, arching his brow under his helmet at the dull _'THUD' _and stream of curses, suspiciously in a male voice and scrambling around and then Padmé opened the door, her eyes glassy and lips slightly puffy. 

"Good morning, Commander." She tried to smile. Key word, 'smile'. "Morning, Senator." Fox looked past her into the office, scanning it, Padmé trying to make herself taller. "Something the matter?" "I heard like someone was here." Fox commented. "What are you talking about? I tripped over my robe and dropped my datapad." Padmé smiled, letting Fox in.

Looking around the place once again and more thoroughly, finding a stray datapad, picking it up and handling it over to Padmé, who thanked him, sitting behind her desk. 

Fox shifted his weight from foot to foot, the itching and burning unbearable now. "There were new graffiti, ma'am. Again, no traces of the perpetrators." Padmé looked up at him, sighing and pinching the bridge of her nose. "We need to do something about it and quickly. I'm worried that someone will actually attack."

"We won't let that happen, ma'am. The Coruscant guard will protect you and the rest of the Senators." Fox inclined with his head and Padmé smiled, smoothing over her dress. "I know you will." She frowned, pressing her lips into a thin line. "But you can't be everywhere." "We try, ma'am. We try." 

Padmé softened her tone. "Take off your helmet." Fox's relaxed posture stiffened once more, not saying anything and he removed it, clipping it to his belt. Padmé stood up and walked over to him, Fox taking a step back, slight fear in his eyes.

"I won't hurt you," Padmé slowly rised her hand to his face, Fox flinched back and Padmé paused. "Just say no." Padmé carefully placed her hand on his cheek and rubbed it gently with her thumb, Fox leaning into the touch, closing his eyes. 

Padmé heart clenched at that, seeing how he longed for the touch, leaned into her hand and maybe for the first time, relaxed in her presence.

Only a minute could pass and Padmé's eyes widened at what she was doing and she pulled her hand back as if burned, startling Fox, making him open his eyes. "I apologize for that, I don't know what came over me." Fox put his helmet back on, hiding his expression. "It's alright." 

Padmé smoothed her hands over her dress again and the awkwardness was so thick you could actually taste it, she swallowed thickly, looking anywhere but at Fox. 

"I want to see the graffiti." Padmé said finally, nodding. "I have the photos with me." Fox pulled his kama back to take the holograms and present them to Padmé. Pulling out the older photos and comparing them. "They are mostly the same." Padmé murmured, squinting at one of the pictures, unfinished graffiti on it. "Wait, is that Senator Organa's home?" The question was laced with worry, looking up at Fox, begging with her eyes not to be the case. "

_"Yes."_

Padmé closed her eyes, willing her anger to quiet down. "Is he alright?" "Yes, ma'am. He...." Fox trailed off, knowing the information was confidental. Padmé stood up again and walked to him, gripping his shoulders. "Tell me. Please. Senator Organa is one of my close friends and a great support in times of hardship to anyone. If something happened to him...." Padmé let that hanging in the air, the application very clear.

Senator Organa is the only one who they listen to, no matter what he says. It would be a great loss to the Republic and to Alderaan. Fox hung his head and Padmé released him, taking a step back. "He..... He saw the cloaked perpetrators. Someone or something scared them away, that is why the graffiti is unfinished." 

Padmé frowned at that, tapping her chin. "And... He didn't see who it was?" Fox shook his head. "No, ma'am." Padmé nodded and walked to the window, looking out, seeing in the reflection that Fox moved closer to the desk, looking down at the photos.

"You have been a great help and companion for the past two weeks and I'm very grateful for that." Padmé said suddenly, making Fox pause before resuming on comparing the photos. "Just doing my duty."

"No." Padmé shook her head, turning to look at Fox. "This isn't just duty. This is compassion. Love for the work. You are protecting the people, protecting us, the Senators and you are doing it with such a passion that puts mine to shame." 

Fox's heart jumped at that, swelling with pride and he refrained from doing anything stupid. "Thank you, ma'am for the kind comment. I think it would be better if you passed the comment to the boys too." Padmé nodded with a smile. "Yes. You are right." 

* * *

Commander Thire stood next to Bail Organa as the man did his paper work, in the mean time, he checked on the two guards standing outside the door via comms, making sure that everything was alright.

"Something new, Commander?" Organa glanced up from his work.

"No, sir. Everything's fine." 

Bail nodded, returning to his paperwork. After he was finished, he stood up and gestured towards the security footage. "Let us look at it, one more time. We might have missed something." 

"But sir, we have revived the footage numerous times and there's nothing to discover." Thire supplied and Bail gave him a warm smile. "One can never be certain."

They reviewed the footage one more time and this time, Thire noticed something. "Wait." Rewinding the footage a few minutes back. 

The perpetrators were spray painting the wall of the house just outside the view of the camera. Thire looked at the bottom left corner. "Bottom left corner." He pointed at it, just in time for a shadow to move there, for a faint blue glow go appear, then disappear and then nothing. 

"What was that?" Thire asked rhetorically, while entwined his fingers. "Looks like we got ourselves a mystery." 

* * *

"Where is it?" It was a threatening growl, making the two - rodian and a human - cower in fear. "What are you talking about? You ambush us in our own home and then you demand something from us? Learn manners first!" The rodian exclaimed, regretting it immediately as the person hauled them by their shirt. "I am not an idiot. Where did you hide it?!"

Another growl made the human run for his life but the person tossed the rodian away, jumping after the human like a predator hunting it's prey, pinning the human under them, making him nearly piss himself and start to blabber. "It's in the bag, it's in the bag, it's in the bag...."

Looking over at the tattered bag, they stalked towards it, knocking it over, making its contents spill on the ground - spray painting bottles. 

Rushing over to the human and grabbing him by the back of his shirt and doing the same to the rodian, they tilted their head. "Don't worry. I'll be merciful."

_And they screamed._

* * *

Fox was trying to will his hands to stop shanking, rubbing at his wrists. 

"Something the matter, Commander?" Padmé looked up at him from her work, tilting her head. "All is fine, just itchy." Fox commented, playing it off. 

Nodding , Padmé returned to her work and Fox rubbed at his forearm armor, hiding the wince, when he pressed too hard on his self inflicted wounds.

His comm beeped and he answered it, Commander Thire popping into view. "Commander Thire, what is the reason of this call?"

_"Commander Fox, I'm glad you answered me so quickly. We have something peculiar waiting here. Or rather, someone." _

"I will be right there." Fox hung up and stood up, Padmé standing up too. "We, will be right there." "Pa - Senator, I highly doubt that would be wise." Padmé rised her hand to stop him. "If it has to do anything with Senator Organa, I am coming too."

Fox exhaled trough his nose, getting close to a sigh as he can get. _"Why me?"_

* * *

"Commander Fox. Senator Amidala." Commander Thire nodded at them, leading them towards a dead end alleyway, two blocks away from Bail Organa's house.

"Two of our guys found them when they were making rounds around the city. A sound drew them towards the alley and they, well. See for yourself." 

Fox and Padmé nodded to the two guards guarding the enrramce, Thire gestured at the middle of the alleyway, making both Fox and Padmé pause. 

The human and rodian were hanging by their legs from the wall, hands bound together and gagged, spray painting bottles stacked under them. "Do we know who did it?" "No, Commander. This block is free of surveillance cameras and no one saw anything."

Padmé frowned at that. "In a broad daylight." "Let's get them down." Fox ordered and he and Thire, along with the two guards moved to cut them down and get them into custody, taking the bottles as evidence and to get finger prints.

"May we speak to Senator Organa?" Padmé asked and Thire nodded. "Senator Organa is in his house."

* * *

"Padmé!"

"Bail!" 

The two embraced each other, pulling apart and taking a seat on a couch. "Are you alright?" "Yes, I'm fine. Thanks to Commander Thire and his men, I feel safe." Bail smiled warmly. "I heard that the culprits for the geaffiti were caught." 

"Yes, yes they were. The Coruscant guard took them into custody, although," Padmé bit her lower lip. "They found them in a dead end alley, hanging from the wall by their legs with the spray cans stacked under them." Bail frowned at that, looking at the Commanders for confirmation and they nodded.

"And now what?" Bail asked. "We will question the culprits and find out why they did and who did it to them." Fox answered. "Whoever did this, they helped to catch the culprits, yes, but they inflicted harm on them and we need to catch them, even if they helped us." Thire added, patting Fox on the back gently.

"That is great, more so I am glad that I can return to work tomorrow." Bail commented, smiling at the two Commanders.

* * *

"You alright, _vod_?" Thire asked, gently squeezing Fox's upper arm to stop him from leaving yet, his tone gentle. "Yes, I am. Why?" Fox kept his tone flat, not giving away anything.

"I saw you rubbing your wrists and forearms and you were trying to hide the wince." 

Fox was sure that Thire was frowning under that helmet, trying to read him. "It's itchy. Nothing less, nothing more." Fox patted Thire on the shoulder. "I'm fine, really. I would tell you if anything was wrong." 

"Sure." Thire didn't press the issue but wasn't entirely convinced.

* * *

"The night shift is here." Fox announced taking his leave but Padmé stopped him. "Wait a moment." She came to him and hugged him, air leaving Fox's lungs, making him immobile for a moment. "Thank you." She whispered and pulled away, giving him a warm smile.

Fox nodded. "Just doing my job." He said the already learned phase, exiting Padmé's office and returning to the barracks.

Once there, he removed the bandages, assessing his wounds. They looked worse than before, hurting and itching even more.

_"Is it worth it?"_

A tiny voice at the back of his head asked. "Does it matter?" 

Getting a shower, wincing when the water touched his forearms, dressing into the loose clothing, getting into his bed and rolling onto his side, finally, after repressing them for the whole day, letting the tears fall, muffling the sobs in the blanket.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you notice the slip up(s) from Fox?


	10. Arc 1: The beginning of everything - Part 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Implied threatening of life, vomiting, medical inaccurances

_"Padmé, please."_

Sighing, Padmé put down her data pad, looking up at her husband. "Ani, we nearly got caught the last time." Anakin pouted from the couch and then grinned. "But we didn't and that's a good thing." 

Anakin got up from the couch and walked to Padmé, kissing her cheek. "My beautiful Padmé. What did I do to deserve you?" She smiled and then frowned, pulling from Anakin's embrace, looking at him.

_"How are your men?"_

Anakin blinked at her, tilting his head. "They are fine. Why do you ask?" "Just curious." She said innocently. "What, did some of them hurt you?" Anakin grabbed Padmé by the shoulders, looking her over. "What, no! Anakin!" Padmé's eyes widened and she stepped back from him. "Why would you say anything like that?" 

"I-" Anakin's expression softened. "I'm sorry. I got worried for a moment." "No, don't apologise to me." Padmé sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. "It's been long two weeks. We got the perpetrators but now there is this search for that person that caught them."

Anakin guided her onto the couch and she flopped down, groaning. "I wish it was already over. The war. The fighting." Padmé ran her hand over her face tiredly, rubbing her eyes. "Me too. Then we could leave and live like a husband and wife." Anakin smiled and Padmé bit her lower lip.

_"Would it be so easy? _

_To just leave everything and everyone behind? _

_After doing it for so long, can I - We - just leave?_

_What about my - our - friends?"_

"You asked about my men, why?" Anakin asked, quirking a brow. "Just wanted to know if they are fine because the war is taking toll on everyone." Padmé said softly and went back to sit at her desk. 

_It has nothing to do when she saw Fox leaning against a wall, head and shoulders slumped before straightening again._

_It has nothing to do when she saw Fox trip over his own feet._

_It has nothing to do with how she saw Fox shake._

_It has nothing to do with how Fox flinched away when one of his co - workers tried to hug him._

Padmé checked the time. "You should go, Anakin. Commander Fox will be here any moment." Anakin wanted to leave but paused, turning to look at his wife. "If he tries anything, tell me." Padmé just looked at him and he left and not long after, Commander Fox walked it.

"Good morning, Commander."

"Ma'am."

Fox's stance was stiff, shoulders squared and his voice thick with emotion Padmé couldn't decipher. _"Please, tell me he didn't run into Ani." _

Padmé knew how her husband could get jealous and thus get irrational and do something he would later regret. 

"Commander, have you met Ani - I mean General Skywalker on your way here?" Padmé asked and Fox took longer with his answer for Padmé to have doubts. "No, ma'am."

Padmé nodded, the frown not leaving her features. "Have a seat, Commander." Padmé gestured at the chair, not looking up from her work. When she didn't hear anything, she looked up to see Fox standing stock still.

Standing up and walking up to him, frowning when he took a few steps back, keeping distance from her. "Commander, are you alright?" Padmé asked softly and Fox nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

_"No."_

"You sure?"

"Yes, ma'am."

_"Stop asking."_

Padmé nodded, taking a seat again, not pressing the issue, although she knew that Fox had no problems taking a seat after he got over the shock.

_"What are you not telling me?" _

* * *

"We have a meeting with Senator Mon Mothma, although I do not know how long will it take." Padmé mused, sipping at her tea that her handmaiden made for her. 

Fox politely declined.

Nodding, Fox followed Padmé out but not before accidentally colliding with one of Padmé's handmaiden. "Sorry, sir." "Excuse me, ma'am." 

Padmé watched the exchange but what was more peculiar that it was Fox who nearly tumbled down. "You arlight?" Padmé asked quietly as they exited her office. "Yes, ma'am, why wouldn't I be?" Fox answered, his walk stiff.

_The armor feels too tight._

_My own helmet feels like its suffocating me._

_It's burning._

_Everything's burning._

_I feel like my legs are shackled._

_Heavy._

_I feel like I'm drowning._

_Emotions are weighing on my chest._

_I want to tell you, Padmé._

_But I can't._

Lost in his own thoughts, Fox didn't realize that they arrived in Mon Mothma's office, the two woman greeting one another and then speaking politics.

Thorn looked Fox over, walking to him, Fox stiffening at the close proximity. "Are you alright?" "Yes, why everyone is asking that?" Fox asked, exasperated, nearly throwing his arms up.

He caught his lower lip between his teeth, worrying it as Thorne was looking him over by the way his helmet was moving.

_"What did General Skywalker wanted with you?"_

Fox's breathing hitched, trying to play it off with a cough. "What are you talking about?" "Commander, with all due respect, I saw General Skywalker stopping you in the hallway and walking with you into a side room." Thorne wanted to squeeze Fox's shoulder but he flinched away. "Don't touch me, don't touch me!"

"Fox..."

"No, stop." Fox slapped Thorn's hands away, backing away from him, wrapping his arms around his middle.

"What is going on?" Mon Mothma's question went unanswered as Thorn was trying to calm Fox down.

"Stay away!"

_"If you hurt Padmé, if you try anything."_

_He's being choked, he can't breathe._

_"Stay away from her."_

_"Or you will carry horrific consequences."_

Fox managed just in time to take off his helmet as he fell on his knees and it rolled away as he vomited on the carpeted floor, his stomach clenching as it burned its way out.

"Brother!'

_"Fox!" _

"I'll call a doctor!"

Thorne threw his own helmet away, smacking Fox's back so he wouldn't choke on his own vomit, holding him and turning him around in his arms as Fox was about to collapse.

Fox saw Thorn's concerned expression before everything went black.

* * *

"You say that he was not himself before he visited and lost consciousness?" The droid asked, typing away on the datapad. "Yes." Thorn answered, Padmé looking trough the glass at unconscious Fox, Mon Mothma comforting her. 

"Do you know the cause of it?" Padmé asked. The droid turned his attention at her. "High level of stress." 

"Stress. Stress? We were bred to sustain stress!" Thorn panicked, looked over at his co - worker, Padmé and Mon Mothma furrowing their brows at that. "Commander, what are you saying? No one is able to sustain stress." Mon Mothma moved closer to Commander Thorne.

"May I see him?" Asked Padmé softly. "You may, if only for a short while." The droid answered and she nodded, walking into the room, closing the door with silent 'click'. 

Taking a seat next to the bed, she looked at his festures. Brow pulled tight, bags under his eyes, stress and worry giving him a few more years. "Why didn't you tell me anything?" Her voice was strained as she reached over and squeezed his hand.

Lowering her gaze, she noticed hid bandaged arms, running her other hand gently over it. "What is..." Padmé kissed his forehead before leaving the room, Commander Thorn and Mon Mothma waiting for her. "What happened to his forearms?" "I'm sorry, Senator, patient confidentiality." The droid answered and Padmé nodded, walking away with Mon Mothma beside her and Commander Thorne.

Her new escort was already waiting for her at the end of the corridor, saluting to her and walking a few steps behind her. 

She and Mon Mothma parted ways, Padmé returning to her home, her heart feeling heavy, mind racing with questions.

"Do you want anything?" Padmé asked her new guard. "No, ma'am. Thank you, ma'am."

Nodding, Padmé walked out on her balcony, overseeing the city. _"Please, Anakin. Tell me it has nothing to do with you." _


	11. Arc 1: The beginning of everything - Part 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This was suppose to have a one more part but I want to get the second ARC going bc I have plans for that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning; Medical inaccurancies, vomiting, slight Jedi bashing, swearing

Everything that Fox consumed, he immediately vomited back out, groaning in pain, unable to leave the bed.

Kix spent the whole day figuring out just what the _kriff _was wrong with Fox. Patting just back when he vomited so he wouldn't choke, putting cold coating on hid stomach to ease up the cramps, giving him meds to help him sleep.

_And now he has a karking fewer!_

Kix pinched the bridge of his nose tiredly as he read the results over one hundredth time. It looked like a normal fewer but he knew there should be something more. Fox vomited before he fainted and was unconscious for two whole days.

"Kix?" Helix placed his hand on Kix's shoulder, making him look up. "Helix? When did you get back?" Helix smiled at him and sat next to him, removing hid armor. "A while ago. General Kenobi let us off early."

Nodding, Kix handed him Fox's file and Helix frowned at it and Kix gave him a nod, Helix rised a brow and read it. "I know these symptoms. It happens when a _vod _survives a Force Choke. Vomiting, fewers, combined tenfold with stress and depression."

Helix gave it back to Kix, unclasping his armor. "But who would Force Choke Commander Fox? There aren't any Sith!" Just as he said that, Kix shut his mouth, Helix's expression darkened. "There aren't any Sith, _vod, _but there are Jedi."

Kix stuttered. "Why would any Jedi-" Helix shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe because they can? I hear from brothers working under Quinlan Vos that he doesn't treat them well and it is not too long that he was on Coruscant." 

Sighing, Kix rubbed his head. "What Am I suppose to do?" Helix squeezed Kix's hand. "They react to the aftermath of the Force Choke differently."

* * *

Helix send Kix to rest, reassuring him that he would look over Fox.

As Kix walked towards the barracks, thinking over the possible treatments, when he was roughly pulled into a side alley, hand over his mouth, muffling his shocked gasp, the other hand tightening around his stomach, trapping his arms. He considered stomping in their foot but what they whispered into his ear made him reconsider. "Do something stupid and I'll carve your insides out like an animal."

It was a woman. Definitely a woman. But she was quite strong and he could feel her muscles. She chuckled into his ear. "There's a good boy. There's a pliant prey." Kix shuddered, the implication very clear.

She pulled him further into the darkness and slowly took her hand off his mouth and when he wouldn't do anything, she turned him around and slammed him into a wall, making him grunt. "Your friend is sick, isn't he?"

Anger bubbled inside Kix's chest, balling his fists. "Did you do it?" He asked trough clenched teeth and that woman had guts to laugh. "No, I did not. The hunt for me is too great, they would see me. And tell me, how would I get out of the Senate building unseen?"

Kix slumped his shoulders, she clearly had a point. Kix schooled his features, glaring at the woman. "What do you want?" "Me? What do YOU want?" Grasping his wrist, making sure that he wouldn't run, she reached into the darkness, holding up a basket, some sort of bundle of flowers in it. Releasing his wrist, she took the first bundle, tiny, yellow flowers with dark leaves and stipe. "Dry those up until they are completely dry. There can't be not even one drop of water or they will be poisonous. Then make a tea out of it and convince your patient to drink it every day. It'll ease his mind."

Putting this one down, she picked up another bundle, flowers with the color of the sky, with red leaves and stipe. "Put the whole herb into a boiling water and let them dissolve, then let them sit for a week, until they are cold. These herbs are best as an ointment, without a smell but healing everything."

Another bundle of these supposed 'herbs', small, white and curly. "Dry them up and crumble them into tiny pieces and make seasoning out of it, your patient has to eat it with every food, his stomach will return to normal."

Then she picked up only one 'herb', big, white with two leaves and very thin stipe. "Listen carefuly for this one. Cut the blossom closely, very closely under it, carefully to not damage the stipe, peel the leaves off, put them under the blossom and your patient needs to swallow it whole. No chewing just swallow it. His body and mind will forget about any Force attack that may have happened to him, healing him better than any medicine could. And when you do that, curl up the stipe and put it in a well watered soil. Another herb will grow out."

Putting the herb back, she handed him the basket and he looked at her, trying to at least make out her features since she was cast in shadows. One word slipped from his lips. "Why?" 

"I owe a few people favors. You don't trust me? Fine, then don't. But don't drag your brother down with you." Kix looked down at the basket, looking up and opening his mouth to speak again, he found out that the woman was already gone.

A soft whine drew his attention back to the basket and a small, white furry head with small orange ornaments poked out, blue eyes scanning the place around before focusing at Kix and opening its mouth in a cute yawn. "Hi, buddy."

Kix scratched its head and it made a pleased sound, small smile tugging at his lips.

_"I owe a few people favors. You don't trust me? Fine, then don't. But don't drag your brother down with you." _

This. Everything was for Fox. The herbs and the puppy. The puppy was a companion, that Fox didn't realize he needed.

"Tomorrow, Fox. Tomorrow."

* * *

The very next day, Kix got up early, having to find the puppy that ventured out of the basket, finding it chewing on one of Tup's boots.

Putting it back into the basket, he went into the medical center with the basket, hanging up the herbs that need to dry up near the windows, putting the blue ones into a boiling waiter, in the meantime, he cut the blossom of the white flower and peeled off the leaves. "Now to put the stipe in a soil."

A soft whine drew his attention and he saw the pup curl up on Fox's chest, slowly dozing off. "Aw." 

Feeling something on his chest, Fox slowly came from his sleepy state, blinking away the last bits of sleepiness and looked down. "Gaaah!"

Startled, the pup jumped away from Fox's chest and onto the edge of the bed but quickly returned to sit on his lap.

"It is alright, _Fox'ika." _Kix said softly and approached him, placing his hand on Fox's shoulder. "It's your new companion."

Getting over the shock of it, Fox looked at the pup, who tilted its head at him. Fox reached over to scratch the pup behind its ears and it took it as a.cue to get closer, with a yap, he climbed up to Fox's shoulder, resting its head in the crook of his neck, small smile tugging at Fox's lips, smoothing his hand over the pup's furr.

"And now that you're awake." Kix went to fetch the blossom and leaves. "You need this to swallow it whole." Fox looked at him skeptically, his brow furrowing and the pup yapped, almost telling him: "Do it."

Fox opened his mouth and carefully helped Kix to put it in his mouth, gagging when it hit the back of his neck. The pup pressed its paw to Fox's mouth, encouraging him to swallow it. Fox's face twisted as he swallowed, feeling it painfully sliding down into his stomach.

Kix squeezed Fox's shoulder and he went back to check on the boiling herbs, finding them dissolved, he put it on a cool surface.

Checking on Fox, he found them dozing off, the pup curled in his arms. "I hope it works. I really hope it works."

* * *

"We found our suspect! I repeat, we found our suspect!" One of the Coruscant guards yelled into the wrist comm, chasing after the suspect trough the crowd, trying to lose them.

A store owner called a police, finding out that a thief broke into his shop, stealing away some vegetables and fruit. They noticed the shop owner and bolted with the stolen food, quickly getting out of sight. The owner managed to get a glimpse, giving some details to the police and a search was announced.

More guards joined their brothers, chasing them down, splitting at an intercourse. "We'll cut them off!"

And indeed they did.

Surrounding a young woman with black hair made into dreadlocks, weird stitched up clothing and the backpack with stolen goods.

"Come quietly and nothing will happen to you!" They trained their weapons on her and she gave them a smile with way too many teeth. "I don't think so." Stretching out her arms with her opened palms, they all flew back a few meters, getting the wind knocked out of them.

Using the distraction, she started to climb up the wall and onto a roof of a building. She started to run but not before getting hit by a stunt gun, falling down with a grunt, trying to fight it but succumbing to it.

_"Kriff." _Thire cursed. _"Kriff, kriff, kriff." _Pulling out a pair of cuffs and cuffing her wrists behind her back and waiting for a transport. "A force user. Just what we need." He tapped his wrist comm. "I got her, send a transport and be careful, she's a Force user."

_"Did you say a Force User?" _Thorn's voice rang trough the personal comm.

"Yes, is there something wrong?" Thire asked.

_"No. Just surprised." _Thorn ended the conversation after that, making Thire arch his eyebrow.

* * *

The woman was taken into custody and now that he could look her over, he noted how dirty she looked, the clothing was weird and leathery, stitched together, some pouches attached to the belt and a suspiciously lightsaber looking pouch.

They returned the stolen goods and when they were searching her, they literally found a lightsaber and she fought tooth and nail to get it back, nearly breaking the cuffs.

Upon arriving at the Coruscant prison, they put her in an interrogation room, cuffing her hands behind the chair and chaining them on the ground and cuffing her ankles together.

"She's not a Coruscant citizen. She's not in the database." One of the guards, Jek, said, looking into the database. "Understood. I alerted the Jedi about a possible Force user." Thire nodded and looked at his coworker that exited the interrogation room, letting out a frustrated sigh. "What did she say?" 

"Nothing, sir."

Thire nodded. "The Jedi will come soon and take care of her."

Looking at her trough the one sided mirror, she was sitting there with her eyes closed. _"Just who are you?" _

* * *

Cracking open and eye upon hearing the door hiss open and shut, opening both eyes, red irises gazed up at an alien looking man, orange skin, neatly dressed in black, black goggles and black breathing mask. His hands were clasped in front of him and she noticed the claw.

"Hello, young one." The alien spoke in a deep voice, his tone soft and gentle and he took a seat across from her. "My name is Master Plo Koon and I am one of the Jedi Masters stationed here on Coruscant. What is your name?" 

She was looking him over, calculating, keeping her expression and tone neutral, she answered. "Many who encounter me call me Scarlett." "Oh, Is it because of your eyes?" Plo asked. Shaking her head slightly, Scarlett licked her lips. "No. They call me that because they always encounter me covered in a blood of a recent animal hunt or in the blood of my enemies."

Plo froze at that answer and she tilted her head a little, breaking the silence. "What are you, anyway?" "I am a Kel Dor from planet Dorin." Plo answered and Scarlett shifted to lean against the chair, looking awkward with her hands bound, schooling her expression into a neutral mask. "I know you didn't come here just to chat, what do you want." 

"I came here to offer you a place in the Jedi Temple. You will have a place to stay, food, proper clothing. You will become a Padawan, learning under a Master and maybe become one yourself." Plo Koon said softly.

"And sway me into your ways? Not gonna happen." Scarlett kept her tone and expression neutral. "I saw what your foolish war can do. Entire planets, starving out, whole cities, villages and houses destroyed, leveled to the ground, entire populationd wiped out."

"And this is why we are fighting for peace and equality. We, the Jedi, are trying to end the war, fighting against the Separatis, against the droid army, freeing people and their worlds." Plo said softly.

"Oh, really? The last time I saw those droids, a man, with a lightsaber was leading them. Wasn't he one of you?" Scarlett paused for a moment. "Doesn't matter. I saw another, Jedi, if I'm using the term right, didn't give two shits how the people are going to live, mistreated those working under him, didn't care how many people die as long as the missions is successful."

Scarlett leaned forward, her voice low. "So tell me, Plo Koon of Dorin. What are you really fighting for?"

* * *

"Miss Scarlett is shrouded in darkness, yes, but I believe that there is still hope for her coming to the light. The way she spoke to me suggests that she can respect authority and is willing to learn new things. I suggest we give her a chance." Plo Koon said to the Jedi Council, some of them present in flesh, the others appearing only as a hologram.

"Impressive, your kind heart is, Master Plo. Others, hear first too, we must." Master Yoda nodded, looking over the members of the Council and Skywalker.

"From me, it's a hard 'no'. She was rude to me, cutting me off mid sentence and sometimes refused to answer direct questions. She proven to be uncooperative and rude." Anakin said with his arms crossed.

"As Master Plo said, she is shrouded in darkness and seems content in it. She was also cutting me off mid sentence, asking weird questions about my military experience and leadership, although I do not see the connection." Obi-Wan commented, stroking his beard in thought.

The other Jedi who spoke to Scarlett, brought up only the negative things and when asked about something positive, they couldn't think of anything.

Who brought a different light to her was Mace Windu, who at first spoke negatively about her but was able to say something that surprised them all. "Scarlett is all the negative things you listed, yet she's strong in the Force. Her heart hardened by the difficulties in her life, yes, yet her determination and will to live is stronger than ours combined, which is saying something."

"How do you know all of this, Master Windu?" Plo asked. "She told me, Master Plo."

The final verdict was: Due to her aggressive, brash and uncooperative nature, Scarlett will be shipped off to Ahsoka.

* * *

Ahsoka waited on the landing pad of Shadowrika awaiting the ship that would bring her her new 'friend'. At that word a weird feeling settled in her gut, twisting it, eating her away from inside out.

Seeing the ship exit from hypersapce in the distance, she steeled herself and willed her worries away. "There's nothing to be worried about. Everything will be fine. Remember when you were doubting the boys from your new team? Look how that turned out." Ahsoka was trying to reassure herself - and failing - shutting up when the ship landed.

The ramp lowered, revealing four heavily armed Coruscant guards, the electrical poles crackling as they ascended, flanking a dirty looking woman with black hair made into dreadlocks, weird and leathery stitched up clothing. And what was very noticeable that she was chained.

_"Shit went down the drain real quick."_

Ahsoka didn't notice that she used a swear word in her mind, looking up at her. "Commander Tano, this is your new asset." One of the guards said, handing her the key card to her.

_"Asset." _Ahsoka thought, looking at the woman's reaction but she saw none. "Yes, of course." Taking the middle chain that connects the wrist and ankle cuffs, the guards leave, taking off with their ship.

"Sorry about that." Ahsoka murmured, unlocking the chains and the woman rubbed at her wrists, zero emotion on her face, Ahsoka also noticed how muscular for a woman she was. "My name is Ahsoka Tano and-"

"And not a single fuck was given." 

The woman walked past her, leaving Ahsoka to look after her dumbfounded. "Is there a shower somewhere? I need to get this shit off." The woman walked into the base and Ahsoka blinked before running after her.

_"Oh, no no no no. You're not introducing yourself to my boys looking like a piece of shit. I'M going to give you a thorough shower myself." _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't take it as canon!
> 
> Also, does anyone know the Commander working Quinlan Vos?


	12. Arc 2: First Mission - Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here I wanted to catch the reactons of some when Ahsoka meets someone who doesn't bend to her will and is questioning her authority.  
Yes, the defiance came from Forge too but there was always someone to step in.  
What if that person has no one to calm them down?
> 
> This happens when you read too much meta on clones being slaves

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Swearing, nudity, probs political inaccuracies

"Where are the showers?" The woman asked, looking around the corridor, hands on her hips. "This way." Ahsoka growled, taking the woman's wrist and leading her towards the showers, praying to the Force that she wouldn't meet anyone.

"Commander Tano? Who is this woman?"

_"God - fucking - dammit!" _

"No one, absolutely no one." Ahsoka walked past Bomber and Smoke, paying no mind as they looked the dirty - _Force, why was she so dirty? _\- woman over, frown on their faces.

Punching the button to open the door from the shower, drawing a laughter from the woman, the anger inside Ahsoka reaching dangerous levels. "What's so funny?!" She growled at the woman. "You, sweetheart. It's funny how you get angry and flustered so easily." The woman looked around the shower, clearly trying to figure out how it worked. 

Ahsoka blinked at that. "You never used a shower." The woman turned to her and gestured at herself. "Do I look like it?" "No, absolutely not." Ahsoka shook her head and collected a shampoo and some soap. "First, undress." Ahsoka looked away as the woman started to undress, dropping it on the ground and it made a weird sound, but Ahsoka paid it no mind as she nearly drooled, having looked back.

_"Holy shit, she got a six - pack! And the muscles!" _

She was watching the woman as she took off her pants, her muscular thighs clenching as she balanced on one legs and took off her leathery shoes off, standing naked in front of Ahsoka.

"Uh, right." Ahsoka turned on the water, fiddling with it, setting it on the right temperature and dragging the woman under the water, watching as some of the filth washed away. Opening the shampoo, she gave it to the woman. "Squeeze some into your hand and was your hair with it."

The woman took it and squeezed some into her hand, washing her dreadlocks. "What's your name?" "Wanderer, they call me. I never really stick to one place." She replied and Ahsoka made a little 'Aaah' sound.

Rinsing off the shampoo, Ahsoka gave her the soap. "The same process but this one is on your body." Wanderer nodded and struggled with the cap for a while before she opened it and squeezed some soap into her hand, applying it on her body.

The filth washed off and went down the drain, getting clean the scars on the Wanderer's body, the longest and biggest were three scars, going from her left collarbone over her chest and belly, right hip and ending at the back of her thigh. "How did you get the scar?" 

"Why do you think I would tell you?" Wanderer rinsed off and turned off the water, learning when Ahsoka did it. She handed her a towel and Wanderer dried off and Ahsoka helped her to tie the towel around her body.

"Come with me." Ahsoka walked out of the showers and towards the room. "I'll let you borrow some clothes." "My old clothing is right over there." Wanderer pointed towards the showers and Ahsoka shook her head. "No. You'll be wearing proper clothing." 

Getting into her room, Ahsoka rumagged trough her boxes and picked up some clothes and threw it at Wanderer, who caught with no problem. "If you say so." The woman shrugged and threw away the towel and got dressed, the smaller and tighter clothing complimenting her muscular form.

"Alright, good, you can meet the boys now." 

"Not before I retrieve my belt." 

Ahsoka looked her over, noting that her borrowed leggins didn't need belt. But before Ahsoka could say anything, Wanderer was already on her way. "Wait, do you know which way?" 

"I do!" 

Pressing her lips together and tapping her finger on the wall, Ahsoka tried not to follow. _"How could she know the way? I was the one dragging her!" _

Wanderer returned, clipping her belt around her waist, stopping in front of Ahsoka, hands on her hips. "Now what?" 

Grabbing her wrist again, Ahsoka led them towards the communication center, where she instructed her team to wait. 

Shiny was drumming a tune on one of the consoles, bored out of his mind, Bomber was sitting on one of the chairs with Smoke in his lap taking a nap, Chrome was checking medical suplies on a datapad, Forge was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, Tiger and Hitter were cleaning their blasters.

Ahsoka marched in, dragging Wanderer behind her, the door hissing shut. "Boys, I want you to meet Wanderer. Wanderer, meet Shiny," He waved and smiled awkwardly, "Chrome," He gave a polite smile and a nod, "Tiger," He grinned at them, "Hitter," A thumbs up, "Bomber and Smoke," Bomber grinned at them and Smoke gave shy wave, "And lastly Forge, my personal favorite." Ahsoka said in sarcastic tone, making Forge scowl at her, over his shoulder and not paying any more attention to her. 

"Hmm." 

Ahsoka shot Wanderer a look.

"May I have a look?" Chrome slowly approached Wanderer, offering his hand to her, expression soft. Her gaze flicked between him and his offered hand and she warily placed her hand in his. Chrome probed at her swollen wrist, making her hiss and pull her hand back, yet he held firm.

"I have some healing ointments in the medical room. We can apply it on your wrists so they won't get swollen and you could use them without difficulties." Chrome said softly and Wanderer regarded him with a hard look before nodding.

Chrome led them into the medical room and sat her on the bed, taking the ointment and applying it on her wrists, massaging it in. Wanderer rotated with them, testing it. "Don't put much pressure on it and it will be fine."

Wanderer nodded and looked into his eyes. "Thank you." She said quietly, getting up and walking out.

Chrome watched after and then thought for a moment, taking a datapad skimming trough saved photos, looking over bruises formed by shackles. _"Why was she chained? Why is she here?" _

* * *

Wanderer was sitting outside on the landing pad on one of the crates, looking up at the stars, trying to make out some constellations, figuring out where she really was.

_How far was she from the planet they sold her into?_

_How long does she has to stay here?_

_How long before she could run free in the forest again?_

"You don't have to sneak up on me, I know you're there." 

Chrome paused for a moment before he sat next to her on the crate, Wanderer shuffling to the side to create some distance. "What do you want?"

Shifting uncomfortably, Chrome folded his hands in his lap. "Why were you chained?" "Why does it matter to you?" Kinana hissed, tilting her head to the side and Chroma rised his hands in a placating manner. "Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I compared your bruises to recorded injuries I have and it was very similar to the bruises from chains." 

Wanderer ran her hand over her face, not saying anything. "Stop digging your nose into something that doesn't concern you." "I apologize, but anything to do with injuries is my concern." Chrome said softly.

"If you see any injury on me, then go ahead, treat me. Other than that leave me, the fuck, alone." With that she paid him no more attention, Chrome sighed and left her alone, returning into the base.

* * *

"Chrome, where is Wanderer? I want to take her around the base." Ahsoka asked Chrome.

"She needs some time alone." Chrome answered, sorting trough medical supplies.

"Oh."

"Oh?" Chrome raided his brow. "It sounded like she didn't need any time for herself and expected her to get right to work."

"She was rude and badmouthing." Ahsoka shrugged. "I thought that she had enough energy." 

"Enough energy? Commander, anyone who is transported from one place to another under the intention of staying on said place for longer period of time, should get some time to themselves." Chrome straightened, disbelief written all over his face.

Ahsoka shrugged again and walked away.

* * *

"What's bugging ya?" 

Forge whirled around and drew his blaster at the person standing in the room, casually leaning against the wall with their arms crossed.

"Oh, it's you." Forge grumbled, holstering his blaster.

Wanderer pushed herself off the wall, slowly walking around him, like a predator circling its prey. "What do you want, anyway?"

"Nothing much." She leaned against one of the consoles. "I just want to ask a few questions."

"Well, go ahead." Forge gestured with his hands.

"You don't like Tano very much, do you?" 

"No, I don't. Is it that obvious?" Forge's voice was sarcastic and he sneered.

Wanderer chuckled. "Very. I like you for that."

Forge arched a brow. "Really?"

"Really." Wanderer pushed herself off the console and started to circle Forge again. "This is the defiance the rest of your brothers need. Hmm, I wonder why didn't you get punished?"

"Unfit for duty." 

"Interesting." She purred and Forge's stomach turned. _"Oh, I hate the Jedi so fucking much." _"Every other soldier who disobeys is sent away and never heard from again. Not you."

"You know awfully lot for someone who was transported from Coruscant."

Wandere's face fell. "When you grow up the way I did, you'll see things no one else does." 

"Oh, so you're superior to us?" Rage bubbled inside of Forge's chest.

"In certain knowledge, yes but otherwise no. I don't want to overestimate myself and underestimade you." She leaned against the console again, crossing her arms.

Forge closed his eyes and his expression darkened once he opened them. "I'll ask again. What do you _really _want?" 

"The right question is, What do _you _want?" She pushed herself off the console again, walking up to Forge, looking straight into his eyes. "You want to break free, but you can't, not with _her _here, not with the Jedi still in charge."

Forge got that sort of _hungry look _on his face, his throat tightening in a _hungry _way. 

Wanderer smiled at him, showing way too many teeth. "Glad we are on the same page." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmm, did I change the name on purpose or nah?


	13. Arc 2: First Mission - Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: foul language, bashing of Scarlett/Wanderer and Anakin and to some extent Ahsoka, Forge being Forge

"Incoming call from Coruscant."

Hitter accepted the call and Shiny called everyone in trough the build in radio, Ahsoka arriving first with Chrome, Ahsoka looking ready to murder someone, Chrome's brow furrowed.

Tiger arrived with Bomber and Smoke, Tiger looking like he was crying, eyes swollen and red, Smoke holding Tiger's hand, gently rubbing his knuckles with his thumb. 

Shiny arrived alone, his smile still in place, walking over to Ahsoka and taking a seat next to her, trying to engage in an easy going conversation.

The last one to arrive were Wanderer and Forge, Ahsoka shooting a dirty looks towards them, Shiny frowned and was looking between the three.

"Accepting call."

Hologram of Master Yoda and Mace Windu popped up. "Greetings, to all of you. Your day, great is, I hope." Yoda smiled, sweeping his gaze over the room. "Yeah. Great." Ahsoka shot a glare towards Wanderer and Forge and Wanderer made a rude face at her.

Yoda hummed and Mace gave a slight nod towards Wanderer. "It has been decided that Commander Ahsoka Tano and her team would be assigned their first mission alongside the 501st and 212th."

"Wait, did you just say mission?" Shiny asked, wide eyed, standing up from the chair.

"Indeed I did, trooper."

The room erupted into laughter and hollering, the clones hugging and patting each other on the back and also hugging Ahsoka, except for Wanderer and Forge, who just sighed or rolled their eyes.

Yoda and Mace waited for the room to settle and once it did, Mace spoke up again. "The Separatists are building a factory on Endor, hoping to mine precious minerals to strengthen their weapons in their fight against us."

"And you want us to help and destroy it or just put it out of comission." Ahsoka nodded. "Sounds alright."

"Sir, may I ask?" It was Tiger and he stood at attention, back completely straight. 

"Go ahead, trooper."

"When are we leaving?"

"Right now." 

And the connection was cut.

* * *

"Is everyone geared up?" Ahsoka asked, looking over her team. 

"Ready as we'll ever be." Shiny grinned at her, resting his blaster on his shoulder, his helmet clipped to his belt, a bag full of his stuff.

"I got everything." Chrome said as he swung his medical backpack on his back and putting on his helmet.

"Where are your things?" Ahsoka looked over at Wanderer, who stood in the far back behind everyone. "Where are my things? I literally came with nothing." Wanderer spat out, having a stare down with Ahsoka, their jaws clenched.

"Uh, girls." Chrome stepped in between them, hands raised in a placating manner. "We can settle our grudged after the mission. Right now, we need everyone and we need to work together. That is important."

Ahsoka was the first to turn around and march onto the landing platform, followed by her nervous team, Wanderer smirking all the way onto the landing platform.

The transporter arrived a few minutes later, the pilots wearing the 501st blue.

Ahsoka got in first, holding onto holder above her head, waiting for the rest of her team to load up.

"It's good to have you back, Commander." The pilot said softly, clicking on a few buttons. "I'm not your Commander. Not anymore." Ahsoka said flatly, staring ahead without any emotion. "Apologies, sir."

The transporter took off after the rest of the team loaded, holding their breaths in anticipation.

"You," Ahsoka turned to look at Wanderer, "You will act with dignity and respect. "My Mas- General Slywaker and General Kenobi are very good and respected people. Intelligent. They won countless battles and saved countless lives. So I expect you to behave yourself."

Wanderer just tilted her head, smirking.

"All of you." She adressed her team.

"Sir, yes sir!"

"This is gonna be long." Forge muttered.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing, Commander. Absolutely nothing."

* * *

Arriving at the _Resolute, _proved to be exhausting, at least for Ahsoka. She and Forge argued the most half of the journey to Anakin's and 501st's ship, even making the pilot nervous, telling them to stop arguing, _please._

"Commander Tano, it is good to have you back. At least for this mission." It was Rex, who greeted her, giving her a small nod, his helmet clipped to his belt.

"Hi, Rex, yeah, I'm glad to be here too but I had to drag this headache with me." Ahsoka rubbed her forehead in exasperation, sighing.

"What?" Rex's eyes flickered up for a moment. "You mean your team? The last time we spoke, you were all excited about them and us meeting each other." 

Ahsoka opened her mouth to speak but got cut off by Wanderer. "I thought we were suppose to respect them but it is an exception for you because you're fucking each other?" 

Rex sputtered and Ahsoka shot her a glare but Wanderer was unaffected by it all, continuing to walk somewhere off.

"Oh, no you don't." Ahsoka ran after her, catching up to her and grabbing her by the forearm and Wanderer promptly yanked free. "Where do you think you're going?" 

"Isn't it obvious? Away from you."

"Listen, wandering off on this ship alone could cause problems." 

"Problems? You said General Skywalker is a good and very respected man."

"He is but he doesn't know you." 

"And what's the point?"

"Mas - General Skywalker could assume you snuck onto his ship. I propose you stay with me - us, for the time being."

"I thought you wanted to be alone?" Wanderer took few steps towards Ahsoka, making her back up a little, bending down to get on her eye level. "To get rid of your..... 'headache'?" 

Ahsoka frowned at her, lips pressing together. "I didn't mean you guys."

Wanderer's lips quirked. "Sure you didn't."

"Um, Commander? Ma'am?" 

Both of the women looked at Chrome, who looked ready to bolt if he said something wrong. "Captain Rex wants us to see General Skywalker." 

"So you've met Captain Rex." Ahsoka nodded. "Good. Let's get going." 

Walking back and looking over her shoulder to check if Wanderer was following them, fetching the rest lf her team, walking onto the bridge, she and Rex at the front.

Rex attempted at a small talk. "How you've been, Ahsoka?" Ahsoka rolled her neck. "Sometimes good, sometimes bad, sometimes I didn't feel. I think it depended on how I slept certain days." 

"I see. Well, I just hope that you are well rested for this mission, otherwise, we are screwed."

Both of them chuckled, not knowing that Wanderer and Forge were sending them dirty looks.

"What is this?" Forge's stomach dightened in disgust. "Are they fucking?"

"No idea." Wanderer smirked. "Don't worry, I'll find out. I can get her frustrated very quickly."

"Is Mas- General Skywalker doing alright?"

"On that, you'll have to ask him yourself." Rex's tone suggested that something wasn't right.

"What is it?"

"I.... I'm not sure. Cody won't talk to me much, I guess lot of work - can't blame him, really - but he was really angry with General Skywalker." Rex talked in a hushed tone.

"Why?"

"Don't know. One day he just... was like that."

Ahsoka nodded, frowning. _"I was away like what, two - three weeks and everything's falling apart."_

Arriving onto the bridge, they saw Anakin Skywalker giving orders to his Troops, not noticing them just yet. "Get the communication in a perfect order, we need to contact General Kenobi as soon as possible."

"Fly us away and get us into hyperspace. Maybe then we can restore the communication."

"Yes, sir!"

"General Skywalker." Rex said respectfully, getting Anakin's attention.

"Captain Rex," He gave him a nod and then directed his attention at Ahsoka, his expression softening a bit before schooling it a bit. "Commander Tano, it's good to have you back." 

"It's good to be back, General."

Anakin led she and Rex towards the holo - table, pressing a button and showing a map of Endor. "The Separatists chose a place that is difficult to access because of the thick foliage and bushes. We need to get in and destroy it from the inside but we will need to cut trough these and -"

"And create the biggest noise possible. Seriously, are we trying to get in or attract them to us." Everyone looked at Wanderer.

"Ah, Scarlett. Such a clever mouth you have." Anakin smiled at her but it wasn't a nice smile.

Ahsoka frowned at _her _\- _What's her name? _\- searching for answers, feeling how Rex tensed next to her.

Everyone looked at the woman, confused and she just shrugged. "I'm just pointing out the obvious." 

"Or trying to be clever and make me look stupid."

"General Skywalker, may I speak?" Chrome raised his hand and Anakin nodded.

"Why did you call her Scarlett? She introduced to us as Wanderer." Chrome spoke up, getting his brothers to nod, Ahsoka crossing her arms.

"Did she now? Not only are you trying to be clever but you lied to your new team as well?" Anakin crossed his arms, looking angry.

A beat of silence passed between them until _she _spoke up. "I didn't lie."

Anakin blinked at that, drawing confused sounds from the rest.

"On my travels, I encountered many people and came into contact with different cultures. I never stayed for too long, always going from different planet to the next. The locals of the planets, gave me different names and I kept them. So no, I wasn't lying and you can call me by both of those names." 

"I'm gonna call you Scarlett, Wanderer doesn't roll of the tongue that smoothly." Forge grumbled, making Scarlett crack a small smile that lasted less than a second.

"Well then, Scarlett, what do you think we should do?"

"Leave everything big or heavy behind and go on foot and light. If the foliage is truly that thick, it will be better if I got you trough and then you can lead."

"The Separatists will overpower us like this. Sorry, we can't risk that."

Anakin turned around and started to talk to Ahsoka and Rex again, showing them the map and Scarlett just shrugged, crossing her arms and Shiny gave her a symphatetic look that was saying: "I know what you meant."

Chrome gave a her a gentle pat on the shoulder and she looked at it like: "What the fuck, dude."

"Come with me." Forge said gruffly, walking out of the room and Scarlett followed him.

"What do you want?" Scarlett asked once they were in a corridor. Thankfully, the ship is so big the corridors are mostly barren.

"Where did you learn all of this?

"As I said, I was traveling from planet to planet."

Forge pressed her to the wall by to collar of her shirt, Scarlett being unfazed by it. "Don't bullshit me, no one would learn this if they were just traveling from planet to planet." He growled in her face.

"Careful." She said lowly.

"I stop being careful when you spit out the answer I want."

"I grew up in a forest. Or a jungle if you will. I was there since I was a child, alone." She looked down at his hands. "Now. Let. Me. Go." 

Forge wanted to know, but he knew what a pissed off Jedi could do, so he let her go and she straightened up immediately.

A trooper passed them, giving them a glance before minding his own business.

"You are hiding something."

"And so are you." Scarlett whispered. "We are both hiding something awful." She looked him up and down and then continued. "I can't tell what you are hiding."

"And I will be glad if it stays that way."

She smirked at him. "Sure."

They returned back onto the bridge and were met by Anakin's anger.

"And where the two of you have been?!"

"Oh, chill out, would you?" Scarlett spat.


	14. Arc 2: First Mission - Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Swearing, Explicit Sex, Hate Sex, Loss of virginity (BLOODY), Forge being Forge, Scarlett being Scarlett

"Why are you so...so... rude?!" Ahsoka screached at Scarlett, who kicked her feet up on the table, nibbling on a pen. "Offering an alternative to a plan is being rude. Ok." She piped up and shrugged, nonchalant about it.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Forge smirking. "What's so funny?" She turned to glare at him, hands on her hips. "The defiance." His smirk only grew as Ahsoka continued to glare at him.

Chrome was the first one to get up - _"Force bless him." _Ahsoka thought- and stand between them. "Forge, Scarlett, please, I know we didn't start on a good note and we all have our differences but can we sort them out after the mission?" Chrome kept his voice, calm, even.

Forge shrugged and left the room that was reserved for Ahsoka and her team. Sighing, Ahsoka rubbed her forehead and then turned to face her team. "Any more complaints?"

"Nope." Scarlett was unfazed by it all, nibbling on the pen. 

"No, sir." A chorus of voices echoed trough the room.

Nodding, Ahsoka took a datapad. "I'm going to see General Skywalker, get more information."

Walking onto the bridge, she looked around and saw only Rex. "Where's Skyguy?' "Convinced him to get something to eat. He was getting antsy and that was annoying." Rex looked up from his work with a smile and Ahsoka smiled back.

"We regained communication!" 

"That's good to hear, General Skywalker will be pleased. As soon as he's back patch us in with the _Negotiator."_

"Yes, sir!"

"So," Rex turned to face Ahsoka again, crossing his arms and leaning against the console. "How's your team settling in?" Ahsoka shrugged. "Good, I guess?" Rex's expression got serious. "What about that woman?" 

"What, what about her?"

"She's giving me weird vibes. I actually have goosebumps, Ahsoka, I have goosebumps!" Rex pointed at himself, eyes wide before composing himself again. "General Skywalker said that she 'feels weird in the Force'. Dunno what that means."

Ahsoka hummed, thinking about it.

Just as she was about to speak, Anakin walked onto the bridge, rolling his neck.

"We regained communication, sir!" Rex salute and Anakin nodded.

"Patch us in with the _Negotiator._" Anakin leaned against the holo-table and waited.

Hologram of Cody popped up, his eyes focusing onto Anakin. _"General Skywalker. We lost you for a minute. Everything alright?"_

"Yes, everything's fine now, Commander. Where's General Kenobi? I need to speak with him."

_"General Kenobi is not available at the moment. But you can say it to me. What do you need?"_

Anakin was lost for words for a moment, scratching the back of his head.

Ahsoka looked at holo-Cody, noticing that he looked tired and reluctant to talk to General Skywalker. When they meet to face to face, they need to talk.

* * *

"Fuck it, I'm bored." Scarlett swung her feet down from the table and threw the pen away. "I'm getting something to eat."

"Commander Tano told us to wait here." Smoke said lamely, hiding behind Bomber when Scarlett shot him a look. "Fuck what the Commander says." They gaped at her as she left, uncaring.

Trotting down the hall, she ignored the troopers as they went out of her way and were staring at her as she passed by them.

Arriving at a barren hall, she looked around and took in the details, trying to work out where she was.

Feeling the tell tale of goosebumps at the back of her neck, when someone was sneaking upon her - no, they weren't even trying. They wanted her to know that they were there and that they grabbed her by her elbows and harshly pressed her to their chest.

"Forge."

"Scarlett."

"Disobeying the Commander, are we?" Forge growled into her ear, nipping her earlobe and the sensitive skin under her ear.

"Fuck what the Commander says." A chuckle from Forge. "What do you want?" She asked in all seriousness and he ghosted his lips over her neck. "To blow off some steam. The Commander is squeezing my patience dry and I'm afraid I would do something stupid. Not to her, fuck her for all I care but my... brothers are something else."

"Aw, so you do care." Scarlett said in a sarcastic tone and a gloved hand clamped around her throat. "Shut up." Forge growled into her ear and glanced up at the camera monitoring the hall. If they did it here, the guy on monitoring duty would have a quite the show.

"I really don't want to put on a show and have us filmed. Let me take you somewhere private." 

"What are you talking about? There's no one here."

Forge released one of her elbows and pointed up at the camera, Scarlett arching an eyebrow. "That little device up there is monitoring everything. Whatever we do, will be watched and stored for later."

"Isn't that invading privacy?"

Forge laughed. "No. This is for security purposes. Still," He walked around to be face to face with her. "I won't give the guy a show." Scarlett tilted her head a little. "What do you suggest?"

He jerked his head. "Follow me." Still holding onto her elbow, he led her down the hall and she jerked free from his grip, making him growl. "No need to lead me like some little girl." 

"Listen." He got to her face again. "I'm trying to be nice here-" "Nice so you could fill me up with your cock. I'm seeing right trough your bullshit."

Forge snarled and pushed her against her wall and she wrapped her hand around his neck in retaliation, a warning. "Don't test me." Forge growled.

"Same goes for you, cretin." 

Forge snarled and he punched the button next to her and they nearly fell into the room, both regaining their balance rather quickly, a quick scan of the room told Forge that they were in the storage unit.

He didn't give, trying to grab her again but she was quick, very quick, evading him when he thought he had her, twirling away from him.

"C'mere, you little bitch!" He growled, kicking a stray welder under her feet and she tripped over it, losing balance and Forge took his chances, tackling her to the ground and wrenching her head back by pulling at her dreadlocks, mouthing at her flesh.

Scarlett kicked with her legs and grunted as Forge forced her head back, mouthing at her neck. Fisting his hair, she tried to pull him back but he bit down, fighting against her and with a snarl, she flipped them over.

Smashing her mouth against his, she clawed at his armor, trying to get rid of it and he in turn snaked his hands under her shirt, pulling at her nipples, making her growl.

"For fuck sake, take it off!" She snarled and sat up, tugging at his armor. Shaking her off, he sat up and statrted to unclasp his armor and she made herself comfortable on a crate.

"What is the armor you are wear, anyway?"

"Plasti-steel." Forge answered, setting the rest of his armor on the ground in a pile, leaving him in his blacks. Scarlett took one piece and looked it over, drumming her fingers over it. "Even though I saw it before it never ceases to amaze me." 

Forge watched her, something swelling inside his chest at the sight of Scarlett looking at his armor in curiosity and awe and he gently took it from her hands, placing it back into the pile and gently kissing her, closing his eyes.

His body tensed and jolted, grunt escaping him as he pulled away, licking his lips, tasting copper in his mouth. Scarlett liked hee teeth, glint in her eyes. "Whoops. Sorry."

Forge clenched his fists and she quickly got to her feet as he lunged at her, pulling at her hair, forcing her head back and attacking her neck, sucking hard. "You fuck, you gonna leave marks!" She yelped and kneed him into his stomach, making him cough and hunch over, leaving himself open to another attack and she tackled him to the ground, finding a zipper and pulling it open.

Forge wiggled his hips against hers as his erection strained against his blacks. Scarlett mouthed against his exposed skin, making him breathlessly moan, lightning his senses on fire, his oversensitive skin tingling.

They rubbed against one another, grunts, growls and soft moans escaping them.

_The sense of primal and animalistic need excited them both._

Wrestling for dominance again, Forget bent her over the crate, pressing her down with his own body, working on her pants and pulling them down enough to expose her. Maneuvering himself out of his blacks, he pulled his hard cock out, rubbing the tip between her wet lips.

"Keep quiet and no one will find us. And. Be. Good." He growled into her ear, probing, not penetrating. Scarlett turned her head to look at Forge over her shoulder. "Make me scream."

_Her only answer was a low growl._

* * *

Anakin sighed, rubbed his eyes. "When we touch down, we will speak to General Kenobi in person. Looks like he has a lot on his plate at the moment." He tried to stay optimistic but Ahsoka could tell that Skyguy wasn't telling her everything.

_"What happened?"_

Deciding not to press the issue, she typed few more words into her datapad and looked at Anakin. "We will be landing after a while, won't we? I'm going to return to my team to get them ready."

Anakin nodded and Ahsoka walked out of the bridge and returned into the room. They stood at attention and Ahsoka looked around the room. "Where is Scarlett and Forge?" "We don't know, sir. They left and hour ago." 

Ahsoka frowned. "Thank you, Shiny. I'm going to find them."

Wandering around the corridors, she tried to use the Force in locating them and it led her towards the storage room. She wanted to press the button but something stopped her, only the feeling resurface in full force.

Her lower belly tightened and her core fluttered upon feeling the primal and animalistic need, the sheer intensity nearly knocked the air out of her lungs, wanting to take a peak.

Shaking her head, her lekku swaying, she swiftly walked down the corridor. When they were done, they would come back.

* * *

Scarlett muffled her moan by biting onto Forge's fingers, making him grunt into her ear as he set a quick and brutal pace, wanting to finish quickly.

Curling his fingers in her mouth and pressing down onto her tongue, trying to make her more quiet, instead she bit down harder. Forge was glad his left hand was numb and didn't feel her teeth that much.

"Quiet." He murmured, brushing his lips over her ear and biting her earlobe. Pushing his cock as deep as he could, grinding against her deepest nerves, making her push back against him, coating them and smearing her fluids on their hips.

"Oh..." Forge pressed Scarlett more on the crate and she was fighting against him, trying to rise him up, pulling at his fingers. Forge growled at her again, hauling them up and pushing her flat against the wall, making her grunt. "You animal, do you want everyone to find out?!"

Kicking her feet more apart, he forced her hands behind her back, holding her wrist together, covering her mouth with his free hand. Leaning down, he whispered in her ear. "You wanted an animal, you are going to get one."

Bracing himself, he set a punishing pace, making her grunt and groan, the pleasure mixing with pain, making her legs quiver and weak, pushing herself down onto his cock, seeking her own pleasure and release, the animal inside her roaring.

Scarlett's words were muffler by Forge's hand and he forced her head back. "Be fucking quiet." He was forcing her down by pulling at her wrists, forcing his cock deeper, pain and pleasure spiking trough Scarlett.

_"Oh," _Forge purred and moaned softly, pressing his lips to her shoulder. _"Oh, fuck, fuck, fuck." _With a few more thrusts, he pulled out and rubbed himself on her bottom, coating her buttcheek in ropes of cum.

Slumping against her, still holding onto her as he regained his composure, panting heavily. Releasing her wrists and snaking his hand down to her womanhood and rubbing it experimentally before thrusting two fingers in, bringing her to a completion.

Scarlett sagged against the wall but continued standing, breathing heavily, wiping her mouth.

Forge looked at his fingers and froze, lips panting as he rised his hand in front of his face. His fingers were covered in her juices, yes but there was a red liquid mixed in it too. Horrified, Forge looked down at himself, seeing the same red luquid smeared on his hips and cock. Turning Scarlett around and rising one of her legs, making her hiss, he looked between her legs and seeing the same liquid.

"Shit." Cursing under his breath, he quickly searched for some napkin and water, finding it rather fast, he wetted the napkin and started to clean her. "What are you doing?" Scarlett croaked, looking down at him, wincing when he touched her womanhood with the cool napkin.

"Cleaning you up. Everyone would smell the blood of you." Forge said gruffly, cleaning her quickly, ignoring the winces. Crumpling the dirty napkin, he took another one and wetter it, cleaning himself also quickly.

Looking up at Scarlett, she was already dressed up, looking like nothing had happened. "Nothing happened between us." She said nonchalantly, walking away. Forge gave her a mock salute, sneering. Pulling his blacks back on and clipping his armor into place, he exited the storage room and returned into their room.

Upon entering, his gaze locked with Ahsoka's, who's lekkus got a shade darker befor looking away, continuing to explain the details of the mission.

Forge arched a brow. _"The kriff?" _


	15. Arc 2: First Mission - Part 4

Exiting the hyperspace, they found themselves next to the _Negotiator, _already waiting for them. "Huh, Master Kenobi is here on time. What happened?" Anakin cracked a small smile, attempting to make a joke, knowing that something was happening.

Moving with Rex into the hangar, he stepped into the LAATAi, holding onto the straps, following by more troopers. "We meet with General Kenobi on Endor and put our two plans together and attack on the factory." 

"Understood, sir." 

Their LAATi closed and took off, Ahsoka and her team getting into their own. "Just follow orders and everything will be fine." Ahsoka said numbly, holding onto the straps. "Cool. If Generals won't fuck up then it will play out well." Forge grumbled, shrugging at Ahsoka's glare.

"Hate to admit it but I agree with Forge." Bomber looked at Ahsoka, his expression apologetic, his scarred half twitching slightly. "I know what can happen when the Jedi is unfit to lead." 

Cold claws crawled up Ahsoka's spine as she took in Bomber's appearance once more. _"Did Jedi did this? Which one?"_

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts and focus on the mission ahead. She can talk to him about it later. Noticing that Forge was looking tense and uncomfortable, she tilted her head a little, gently taping into the Force to find the source of it.

_And it was right behind her._

Looking over her shoulder at Scarlett, Ahsoka noticed that her eyes were fogged, staring into nothing, taking in deep breaths.

Frowning, she looked back at Forge, who didn't seem to notice her.

* * *

By the time they landed, Scarlett was back into her old self, standing tall, expression hardened, jaw clenched.

Some part of Ahsoka was relieved because she didn't know what the change was and didn't want to deal with it.

Getting off of LAATi, Ahsoka made her way over to Anakin, who was talking to Rex and upon seeing Master Kenobi and Commander Cody, they walked over to them. "Master Kenobi, it's good to see you. I wanted to talk to you but Commander Cody said you weren't available."

"Ah, yes. I was busy Anakin. What do you need?" Master Kenobi looked good, maybe even more rested than before but Commander Cody looked different. Gone was his perfect posture, instead his shoulders were slumped and he had hard times holding onto his weapon. 

She wanted to talk to him but first, she needed to listen to Skyguy and Master Kenobi. "Master, we have brought tanks and heavy ammunition." Obi-Wan stroked his beard. "That's nice but it will be a lot harder. We need to lure them out, first and then attack." "Yes, Master. That's what we thought." Anakin nodded and the troopers were starting the tanks.

Walking a few steps and stopping in front of the forest, Scarlett looked up at the tall trees, into the crowns and then back down, looking deeper into the forest. She sensed Forge walking up behind her, following her gaze into the forest.

"It won't work." Scarlett said simply. "You think so?" Forge said sarcastically, resting his blaster on his shoulder. Looking over at the tanks, slowly moving towards the forest. "Their legs... will get tangled up in the grass and lianas, get destroyed or damaged. They are too big to squeeze trough small spaces."

"Try telling that to the General. Sure he'll listen." Forge chuckled, making Scarlett's lips quirk a little. "Looks like you know what you're doing." Forge turned away from her. "I'll have your back." 

Forge walked away and Scarlett looked over her shoulder at his retreating form, turning back around to look into the forest.

"Alright, lets get moving!" Kenobi ordered and they all matched into the forest, scattering slightly to cover bigger ground. Anakin, Rex and Ahsoka were near the front, lightsabers activated, while Kenobi and Cody stuck to the tanks, protecting them.

"So much for being a team." Scarlett mumbled, looking at Ahsoka. "Stick together, she said. We are a team, she said." "Haven't you heard? The Jedi are exceptional. Those same rules don't apply to them." Forge growled when Shiny gave him a punch to the shoulder. 

"Stop it, all of you." Chrome wedged between them so Shiny and Forge wouldn't go at each others throats. "You know what? I'm going to drag her back where she belongs." Scarlett marched forward with a confident stride, Chrome unable to stop her in time. "No, wait!" 

At Chrome's cry, Ahsoka turned and saw Scarlett marching towards her. "What is it?" She asked but got no answer, instead Scarlett grabbed her by her arm and yanked her back, dragging her back to the rest of the team. "What's going on?!" Anakin yelled, nearly running after them. "None. Of your business." Scarlett shot him a glare, still dragging Ahsoka.

"Let go!" Ahsoka tried to struggle free but found out that Scarlett had unusually strong grip. "It hurts!" "Not my fucking problem." Scarlett shoved her into Chrome, who caught her by her shoulders, correcting her stance. "You said that we are a team and should stick together."

Scarlett leaned over Ahsoka, her eyes widening in fear. "You. Should do the same." Straightening into her full height, allowing no room for arguing and walked away, moving with the rest. 

Chrome looked over Ahsoka's bruised arm, running his fingers gently over it. "I'm fine, Chrome. It's nothing." Ahsoka reassured him, gently prying her arm away. "I look at it after the mission." Voice soft even trough the filter, Ahsoka nodded and now walked with her team, catching a worried glance from Obi-Wan, shaking her head.

The tank legs were starting to get tangled up the deeper they got. Cody banged on the window of one of the tanks, signaling him to wait until they cut him free. The Generals used their lightsabers to cut it and so did a few of the troopers.

"I'm just gonna pretend that I didn't warn them."

"Heh." 

A slight smirk pulled at Scarlett's lips before schooling her expression at Forge's chuckle. 

"Still." Scarlett frowned looking around. "The foilage is thick." Looking up into the tree crowns. "And the crowns are also making it harder to access it from above."

"What are you implying?" Forge asked as she started to search for something on the ground, stalling away from the group until she found it. "The soil... It's ruffled... They found another way." 

Scarlett started to run while crouching, still tracking, trying to find more solid trail, Forge behind her. "Do you know what you are doing?" "Unlike our merry General and Commander, I do." Scarlett replied flatly, trying not to lose the trail.

"Um, Bomber?" Smoke nudged Bomber into his side, getting his attention. "What is it, buddy?" Smoke pointed at Forge and Scarlett, who were running deeper into the forest. "Where indeed." Bomber started to run after them, catching the attention of Chrome and Hitter. "Hey!"

"Commander, we are splitting up." Shiny alerted Ahsoka, who gaped in shock at first before collecting herself and running after them. "Quickly! After them!" Shiny, Hitter, Chrome and Tal followed after their Commander, trying to catch up to Scarlett and Forge, who were zigzazing trough the trees.

_"I forgot to alert Skyguy and Master Kenobi." _Ahsoka thought for a moment as she nearly caught up to Scarlett and Forge.

Scarlett suddenly stopped and Forge few steps behind her and she got down on one knee, feeling around the ground, searching. "What are you doing?" 

"Tracking." Scarlett didn't look at her but paused when she felt something. "This way." Running in the crouch again, she led them more away from the group and Ahsoka was getting nervous.

_"As much as I'm trying, I can't read her. The Force... It's...."_

Scarlett stopped again, looking at the bunch of fallen branches, lianes and foliage. "Now that doesn't look suspicious at all." Hitter said sarcastically, shrugging. Scarlett wanted to go forward but Hitter stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. "I'm going first." 

Hitter moved cautiously forward, while Tal was checking their flank. Hitter moved some of the 'fake' foliage away with his blaster, chuckling. "Heh. Looks like our Tracker found an alternative way in."

The rest hurried forward and helped him to clean the foliage. "Another door." Ahsoka breathed out, surprised. "How did you know it would be here?" Ahsoka asked Scarlett and she just gave her a look. "Would you like to know." 

Seeing a panel for opening the door, Bomber gently nudged Smoke forward, giving him a nod and Smoke moved forward, inspecting the panel. "I can get us in without sounding an alarm." Smoke explained, already working.

"And with the rest being busy fighting against the Separatist on the front, we have a free way." Shiny said triumphantly but Ahsoka couldn't help but worry.

"We need to alert the Generals." Ahsoka wanted to press her comm on but Scarlett grabbed her wrist and squeezed, making Ahsoka grimace in pain. "Alert them and everything will go to shit. Do you want that?" 

"Ladies, please." Chrome separated them by stepping in between them, Scarlett letting go of Ahsoka.

"I'm in." Smoke declared, the door sliding open and Bomber, Forge and Hitter went in first. Ahsoka went after them, followed by Chrome and Smoke, Scarlett and Tal going in last.

Pulling out her own lightsaber, Scarlett activated it, drawing everyone's attention. "You have a lightsaber? Why didn't you tell me?" Ahsoka asked and Scarlett shot her an unimpresed look. "You didn't ask."

"You have a lightsaber?" Tal asked and Scarlett gave him the same look she gave to Ahsoka. "Yeah and you didn't ask. We can do this all day, don't we have a mission to finish?" 

They started to move forward and uneasiness squeezing her stomach. "I just hope everything goes well."


	16. Arc 2: First Mission - Part 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Obi-Wan's POV
> 
> Anakin's POV

Obi-Wan sensed it as soon as they landed. Well, rather it was a persistent tingle, like an itch in the Force that followed him ever since he crossed paths with _The Resolute, _but he couldn't quite tell what it tried to tell him.

Once they were on Endor, it nearly knocked the wind out of his lungs, the obscured and dark Force that swirled around one person in particular.

Noticing Scarlett for a brief moment as she walked away from her group, stopping near the edge of the forest. Trying to tap into her Force, he was forcibly pushed back, a powerful punch to his chest nearly left him breathless.

He felt the tired aura of Cody behind him, but he didn't have time to worry about him as Anakin with Ahsoka were approaching him. "Master Kenobi, it's good to see you. I wanted to talk to you but Commander Cody said you weren't available." Anakin greeted him, slight frown on his face. He must have been really worried.

_"Really? Cody did that?"_

"Ah, yes. I was busy, Anakin. What do you need?" Obi-Wan stroked his beard, thoughtful. He could _feel _more than _hear _Cody tripping over his own feet but Obi-Wan didn't have time to worry before they started to talk about the plans.

"Master, we have brought tanks and heavy ammunition." Anakin began and Obi-Wan stroked his beard in thought. "That's nice but it will be a lot harder. We need to lure them out first and then attack." "Yes, Master. That's what we thought." Anakin replied and the troopers were starting the tanks.

Anakin and Ahsoka walked away to talk to Captain Rex and Obi-Wan took the chance to talk to Commander Cody. "You could have stayed back on the ship." Keeping his voice soft, Obi-Wan patted Cody on the shoulder. "I'm alright, sir."

Obi-Wan gently tapped into Scarlett's Force once more, this time there was only a little resistance, keeping him at the edge and he didn't try to push any further.

Scarlett appeared at ease as she talked to one of the troopers, unbothered albeit little tense, which was understandable. 

_"She doesn't appear that she knows that I'm trying to read her. Her stance does not give away that she's the one fighting me off. Curious."_

Looking over at Anakin who gave him an affirmative nod. "Alright, lets get moving!" Kenobi ordered and they all marched into the forest, scattering slightly to cover bigger ground. Kenobi and Cody near the back to keep an eye on the last line of tanks, while Anakin, Ahsoka and Rex were at the front. 

_"Always at the front. Some things never change." _Obi-Wan thought fondly a small smile pulling at his lips. 

"Happy thoughts before battle, sir?" Cody asked, slightly amusement creeping into his voice. "Of course, Commander. One always must cherish those happy moments."

His smile disappeared as soon as he heard Chrome cry out, Scarlett marching towards Ahsoka, confident stride, supresed anger.... _or not so much supresed anger by the way she dragged Ahsoka back to her group._

Anakin was yelling at them, nearly running after them. "None. Of your business." Scarlett growled at Anakin as Ahsoka growled.

"Uh, should we help, sir?" Cody asked, watching the whole spectacle. Shaking his head and frowning, Obi-Wan looked into Scarlett's Force and _he couldn't breathe._

_White, glowing eyes were watching him trough the black mist as it swirled around him, binding him with a strong grip, unable to move._

_He couldn't breathe._

_He couldn't move._

_What is this Force!?_

"General? General!" 

"Yes, Commander?"

"Are you alright?"

"Absolutely, Commander. Just thinking, is all."

Obi-Wan and Ahsoka locked gazes for a few moments before Ahsoka shook her head, walking with her team.

Nodding, they continued onward and sooner than they expected, the tank legs started to get tangled up in the lianas, damaging them. Cody banged on the window of the nearest tank with his fist, signaling for them to stop until they cut them free.

"This is what I was afraid of. If this continues, we might lose the tanks." Obi-Wan murmured as he cut off the lianas with the help of Cody. "We all were, sir." 

_"Quickly, after them!"_

Obi-Wan, Cody and few more troopers turned, finding out the source of the shouting from Ahsoka as she chased after the people that split up from the group.

"Shouldn't we -" 

Obi-Wan shook his head, watching after them. _"Good luck, all of you."_

* * *

It felt good to have Ahsoka back.

At this moment, Anakin felt like it was the old times, him, Ahsoka and Rex on a mission alongside the 212th. 

He felt happy. He could sense that Ahsoka was calm and content being alongside them.

"Just like old times, Snips." Anakin said lightly, making Ahsoka smile a little bit. "Yeah, just like old times, Skyguy." 

"So, Commander Tano, you said that there is this guy that I would like?" Rex asked in a tone that prompted a quirked brow from Anakin.

"You mean Shiny?" Ahsoka's eyes sparkled a little at that, a wide smile spreading over her face. "You would love him, Rexter. He's funny, easy going, friendly, overall the guy everyone likes."

Ahsoka dronned on and on about this 'Shiny' and Rex tightened his grip on his blaster. "Sounds like a nice guy." 

"He is!" Ahsoka exclaimed happily and started dronning again and Anakin took this as a cue to lean over to Rex. "Is there something bothering you, Captain?" Anakin kept his voice low but he doubted that Ahsoka would hear them over her own excited blabbering. "No, sir. I'm perfectly fine, sir."

Anakin nods in mock understanding and Rex shoots him a glare, not that Anakin can see it - or maybe he can the way he tries not to laugh.

_"No, wait!"_

Ahsoka stopped rambling and turned around, confused why Chrome cried out, seeing Scarlett marching towards them. "What is it?" Ahsoka asked but got no answer, instead got yanked and dragged back to her team.

"What's going on?" Anakin asked outraged and what stopped him was Rex's hand on his shoulder. "None. Of your business." Scarlett glared at him and growled, eyes flashing.

_Rex's hand tightened slightly on Anakin's shoulder._

Taking a deep breath trough his nose and closing his eyes, reopening them once he calmed down enough. "We have to keep moving." 

_Rex would never say this out loud but there was something weird about Scarlett._

The further they went, the tanks started to get tangled up in the liannas, both Anakin and Rex making a quick work of it, setting them free, continuing towards the factory.

"Take cover!" 

Anakin shouted as the first blast hit, the troopers hiding behind trees or bushes, some sticking close to the tanks in order to protect them.

They were taking down as many droids as possible but it seemed that with each droid down, ten more popped up in a seemingly endless loop.

Anakin was deflecting and dodging each and every blaster bolt that came his way, keeping his ground, soon being joined by Obi-Wan and Commander Cody.

"This stinks! It looks like they were waiting for us!" Anakin had to raise his voice in order to talk to Obi-Wan over the loud blaster fire.

"I have to agree with you, Anakin! As soon as we got near the factory, they started emerging!" Obi-Wan replied, his eyes widening slightly as he saw few Droidekas rolling to the front and opening fire. "Oh, this is not good."

"Ahsoka, we need-" Anakin began but got cut off by Obi-Wan. "She's not here, Anakin." "What?! What do you mean, she's not here?!" Anakin jumped down from his post to quickly talk to Rex. "Captain, comm Ahsoka, find where she is!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Don't do it, Captain!" Obi-Wan shouted, catching the attention of both Anakin and Rex. "Trust her in this one, Anakin!"

Clenching his fists and gritting his teeth, Anakin jumped back up to stand next to Obi-Wan once more. "I hope you're sure about this Master!" 

"If I wasn't I wouldn't be saying this!"

_Yet dread and worry settled in Anakin's stomach, heavy and persistent, making his focus shift from time to time._

_What is happening?_


	17. Arc 2: First Mission - Part 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This was.... Such a pain in the ass to write.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So what I'm getting from Ahsoka's arcs is that she's always right. Thanks, I hate it.

_"The walls are so white. Bland. Doesn't look like as Separatist factory. Almost."_

Ahsoka glanced around the corner for any upcoming dangers, Shiny right by her side. "It's too quiet. Way too quiet." Ahsoka got goosebumps from Shiny's whisper, feeling the same way. By the sounds of it, Skyguy and Master Kenobi already engaged in a battle so most of the droids should be fighting outside....

Still, there should be some droids guarding this place. What is happening?

Giving a sign to cautiously move forward, Shiny and Hitter flanking Ahsoka's sides, Tal and Chrome in the middle along with Bomber and Smoke, while Scarlett and Forge were in the back.

"Tell me." Forge spoke up and Scarlett looked at him from the corner of her eyes. "Why are you looking around so much?" 

"Why do you care?"

"You're making me antsy, you got a lightsaber, so possibly, you got some of the Force stuff going on. Mind telling me? Or was it us working together to put Jedi in their place a load of Bantha shit?"

Gritting her teeth, Scarlett refrained herself from throwing Forge against a wall. "Taking in the details."

"Huh. No idea what it means."

"Thought so."

Forge growled and Scarlett growled right back.

"Hey, cut it out!" Bomber hissed at the two, agitated. "I really wish those two stayed on the ship instead of Tiger."

"Don't say that, Bomber. Every hand is useful in any type of mission." Smoke said softly, gently nudging Bomber. "Give them a chance, Big Guy."

"Alright. I'll try." Bomber answered gruffly, readjusting his blaster.

Hitter gave a signal to stop and they scattered to the walls, pressing against them, hiding. Several B1 battle droids were coming in their direction in two lines, pace swift.

They waited when they got near, they started blasting, taking them down. Both Ahsoka and Scarlett were deflecting blaster bolts and Scarlett jumped up from behind her cover and sliced up a few droids, followed by Forge who drop kicked first two droids, hitting the third with his blaster before shooting again.

"Wow." Tal exhaled as he took out four droids with one shot. "Never knew he could do that." 

"Me neither. I think is that we never actually saw him spar or fight." Chrome mused aloud as he took down the droid that was about to attack Scarlett, the two soon joined by Ahsoka, who helped to take down the rest.

"Where did you learn to fight like that?" Ahsoka asked Scarlett once it was over.

"Would you like to know."

"Hey-"

"No. You don't trust me, I don't trust you, why would I tell you shit?"

"Look, we need to work-"

"Together? We already are. See?" Scarlett gestured at the destroyed droids. "Team effort."

"But we can't really be a team if we don't trust each other." Why did Ahsoka felt like she was losing? Ahsoka couldn't read her with the Force, her shell was too strong to crack and that woman - whoever she was, Scarlett - was it even her real name? - kept her defense up at all times.

Scarlett pointed at the six clones. "You have them." She pointed at herself. "I'm a lone wolf. That's how I've always been. Deal with it."

_'Damn. Not afraid to talk back even a situation like this. I like her." _Smirk stretched across Forge's lips as he observed the two women arguing. One was a privileged Jedi and the other? Stubborn, unmoving pillar.

"Girls, can you, please, stop arguing? In the middle of enemy corridor, we can argue AFTER the mission is done and Separatists are defeated." Chrome spoke up and Ahsoka with Scarlett continued their stare down, Scarlett's jaw clenched, Ahsoka squeezing her lightsabers.

Ahsoka huffed out, turned on her heel and walked down the corridor, the rest following her. Bomber shot Scarlett a glare from under his helmet and she ignored him.

Forge nudged her slightly and she shot him a dirty look. "Nice. Someone had to stood up to them." Forge chuckled and they walked at the back of the group.

"You doing alright, sir?" Shiny asked quietly as he walked next to Ahsoka. "Everything is good and dandy, why do you ask?" She replied, tightening her grip on her lightsabers. "Did she hit a sore spot?"

_"Actually, this is the first time someone doesn't like the Jedi and I don't know what to do." _

"No. She's just annoying me that is all." Ahsoka peeked around a corner and halted her group, waiting for a few droids to pass before they continued forward.

The faint noises of a battle reached them but inside the actual factory, it was too quiet. Normally, an alarm would be blaring at this point, deafening them, the corridors being swarmed by droids.

"Something's wrong." Hitter piped up, hold tightening on his blaster.

"Yeah. I got a bad feeling about this." Ahsoka mumbled, halting her team and she moved forward alone, checking for any traps or surprise attacks.

Instead, she felt a persistent tingle in the Force, as if someone wanted to follow that tingle, the light tugging.

Scarlett looked around, feeling light tugging in her mind. She was very tempted, to follow it.

"Hey, stay focused." Forge elbowed her and she blinked a few times, then looked at him. "You don't feel it?"

"Feel what?"

"You really don't?"

"Nah." 

Scarlett went quiet and looked around, feeling the pull being stronger in a certain direction.

Walking past Ahsoka, who hissed at her. "Hey, where are you going?" 

"To explore."

"We are supposed to stick together and destroy the reactor!"

"You do that and I'm gonna do my own thing. Agreed?"

"Agree to disagree. You boys go ahead. Find the reactor, I'll catch up."

Ahsoka ran after Scarlett who just rounded a corner, her steps quick.

_"How come she's so quick?"_

"Hey, hey, heyheyheyhey!" Ahsoka grabbed Scarlett's arm, trying to get her to stop, instead got dragged a few steps before Scarlett wrenched her arm free.

"Didn't I tell you to do your own thing?"

"Listen, I'm the commanding officer of this group and - "

"I don't care."

"And you should follow my orders."

"Don't want to." Scarlett stopped. The corridor was splitting into two and she was trying to pin point where the tug was stronger. "Not feeling like it."

Scarlett went to the left, Ahsoka at her heels. "If you're following at tug, you really shouldn't. Maybe it's a trap."

"So what if it is? A true warrior is prepared for everything."

_"A true warrior? What is she talking about?"_

Arriving at the bottow of the stairs, both of them looked up, waiting for any sort of attack or a surprise ambush.

When nothing happened, Scarlett was the first to move, step by step, silent, like a predator stalking towards unsuspecting prey.

"Why are you following me?"

"So you wouldn't get into trouble."

"You should check on the men. They'll need your help more."

"They're six of them in total, there's only two of us, so no, I'm letting you alone."

"One. I'm digging for myself."

Ahsoka resisted the urge to groan, sticking close to Scarlett even though the woman clearly didn't want to.

They stood in front of a door, that were different from the whole structure, as if they didn't belong here. Scarlett reched over to open them and Ahsoka swiftly grabbed her wrist, stopping her. 

"We should check first if it's safe to go through here."

Scarlett looked down at her hand holding her wrist, wrenching herself free and pressing the button anyway, making Ahsoka tense.

Scarlett walked in first, red eyes scanning the room before locking her eyes on the person standing in front of a window, grey hair, black loose clothing, hands clasped behind their back. 

They seemed to be expecting them, yet remained ready.

Ahsoka dropped into a ready-for-a-battle stance, lightsabers in front of her, eyes trained on the Sith Lord in front of them. "Dooku." 

Count Dooku slowly turned around slowly, looking the two women over. "Ah, so you've come. With," He gestured with his hand. "Unwanted company."

Ahsoka frowned, opening her mouth to speak -

She found herself being rised up with the Force, painfully clutching her in midair and being thrown back with such a force it knocked the wind out of her, taking a tumble down the stairs.

Scarlett watched in mild shock as Ahsoka was thrown out of the room, the door locking after her and she whiped around, readying her lightsaber, prepared for anything.

"And now," Dooku activated his own lightsaber, eyes shining with challenge. "We are all alone, my dear."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That feeling when you forgot to mention one character; Tiger is on the ship with Yularen, helping around. I know, stupid, but it's the only explanation I have.


	18. Arc 2: First Mission - Part 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah. Also, I don't believe in Ahsoka's sudden heel turn in caring abt the clones.

Ahsoka groaned as she picked herself up at the bottom of the stairs, looking up to the top. _"Wh__at was that?" _She thought bitterly, stretching slightly, picking up her lightsabers.

_"What does Count Dooku want with Scarlett? I thought he would want to deal with the Padawan of the Chosen One or the Grandpadawan of Master Kenobi."_

Taking a few steps up, she was stopped by her comm going off. _"Commander, do you copy?"_

"Yes, Hitter. I hear you loud and clear."

_"We are blocked off from the generator room. Smoke has slight trouble getting in and the droids are closing in on us, we could use some help!"_

Hitter had to yell over the blaster shots and Ahsoka clenched her lightsaber, taking a deep breath. "I'll be there as soon as I can."

Looking back up to the locked up door, her nose scrunching up at the thought of letting Scarlett deal with Count Dooku alone. "Eh," Shrugging, she turned on her heel. "She deserves it."

Sprinting down the hallway, Ahsoka let herself be led by the Force, guiding her deeper and lower into the factory. She just hoped she wasn't too late.

* * *

"I know this determination in your eyes. It's so familiar." Dooku drawled as he and Scarlett circled around each other, eyes not leaving the other.

"I don't recall ever meeting you." Scarlett shot back, trying to read this old man in front of her, usually she didn't have this much trouble.

Dooku laughed, rich and powerful. "We haven't, my dear, but I know someone who is very dear to you." 

"I live alone. I travel alone."

"Oh no. I meant it as 'the apple doesn't fall back from the tree'." And it certainly doesn't.

Scarlett readied herself for a fight and oh, was that stance familiar to Dooku on an intimate level, he himself putting one hand behind his back, legs apart on pelvis width, his lightsaber hand pointing at the ground.

If this woman fought as he thought she does, this should be no different than a sparring match for him.

That is if he chooses to go easy on her.

This was all familiar to him. The way she gripped her lightsaber, the way she slid one leg back and hunched forward, trying to appear small, knees bend slightly.

Yes, _yes, yes, yes._

Even though this was all familiar to Dooku, he shouldn't underestimate her.

One never knew from which kind of animal they take inspiration from.

Scarlett lunged forward with a snarl, only moving her lightsaber out of the way, not changing position and Dooku _already predicted her next move._

She made an attempt to jab at his shoulder, striking quickly as a serpent and Dooku easily blocked her attack, her lightsaber sliding against his with crackling noises, the heat giving him slight goosebumps.

Pulling back with a growl, side stepping to the left, going for his ribs, which was easily blocked.

"My hunch was proven correct."

Scarlett pulled back again, gaining some distance and the two started to circle again.

* * *

"Commander!" Chrome called as Ahsoka neared their destination.

"I'm here! What happened?" Ahsoka yelled over the blaster fire as she reflected each blaster bolt. 

"Smoke was decoding the door when clankers surprised us! Bomber is wounded but he can still fight!"

"That's good! Smoke, what's the hold up?" 

"I don't know, Commander!? It looks like they have better security down here!" Smoke replied, focusing on decoding and unlocking the huge door.

Shiny and Forge got closer to each other, making a cover for Smoke. _"Hurry up, Smoke!"_ Forge growled trough the comm.

"I'm trying, I'm trying!" Smoke cried out, getting frustrated already for not being able to get trough fast enough.

"Leave him be Forge and provide cover!" Shiny shouted, blasting the droids away.

"Wait... Where's Scarlett?" Forge looked around, searching for the wild woman, even though she would be hard to miss. _"Tano, where's Scarlett?"_

Ahsoka didn't answer, reflecting blaster bolts.

_"Tano! Where's Scarlett!" _

Setting her jaw at Forge's tone of voice, choosing not to snap back at him at the moment, focusing on providing cover for Smoke, so they could destroy the damned reactors.

* * *

"Not bad. Not bad. For a beginner." Dooku commented as they circled around each other. 

Scarlett didn't comment on it, instead fixating him with a glare, nearly making Dooku laugh. _"Oh, how similiar they are, even as she denies it."_

Taking that small moment to her advantage, zigzagging towards Dooku, angling her lightsaber so the tip would be grazing the ground and when she was near enough, she swung her lightsaber up, throwing Dooku off balance for a moment as he tried to block it, his lightsaber arm flying high, _too high for comfort, leaving him exposed _and Kinana brought her lightsaber closer and forward, performing a forward thrust, so quick Dooku barely directed it elsewhere.

_Yes. They were similar in every aspect yet at the same time so different._

_How was that possible?_

A low laugh bubbled out of Dooku's chest and Scarlett jumped back, taking on a defensive stance.

"What's so funny, old man?" Scarlett sneered.

_"I have no idea why are you laughing, old man."_

Dooku laughed even more, wiping a tear with his sleeve. "The funny thing is, you're more like your father than you realize, Ki -"

Blocking an angry strike from her, Scarlett snarling as their lightsabers crakled. "Oh, I've hit a nerve didn't I?" His answer was a more angrier snarl.

* * *

"I'm in, I'm in!" Smoke exclaimed and opened the door, slipping in first, followed by Chrome and limping Bomber.

"Go, go!" Forge orders to Hitter, who runs in to provide more cover for the last three.

"Get in!" Next up is Shiny, who pulls Ahsoka along with him with a 'Hey!', making her duck along with him.

"Hurry up, Forge!" Chrome shouted at Forge, who was still outside, coming at the incoming droids.

Pulling two droid poppers, he threw them into the air with a laugh, shooting one, causing a chain reaction, making the other droid popper go off and make the ceiling collapse on the droids, blocking more off.

Waltzing into the room like nothing had happened, resting his blaster on his shoulder, pausing and turning around when no one was following him. "What?"

They all shared a look between one another before moving, catching up to Forge. "Hurry up, we don't have much time. Although the droids are stupid, they can and will find a way in."

"Roger roger." Shiny joked, making Forge roll his eyes under his helmet.

Forge turned to look at Ahsoka. "Where's Scarlett?"

Ahsoka didn't answer, instead focusing on helping and planting the bombs.

_"Tano." _A warning growl, yet Tano ignores him. _Gods, how much he hated Jedi. How much he fucking hated them. They all thought they were above them, above the clones. _

_He remembered that one Jedi who made it very known._

Forge swayed on the spot, his world becoming a blur, there is a bitter taste in his mouth and he feels nauseous. He moves without realizing, pace swift and quick, too quick, his head is spinning and he grabs Tano and lifts her up by her neck.

They voices of his brothers are a white noise, too distant but at the same time too loud, too close...

_Then nothing_.

His helmet was on the ground and Chrome was holding him by the shoulders, supporting him. Forge looked up into Chrome's eyes and there was something in them... _Pity? Why was Chrome pitying him and not Tano?_

Ahsoka was rubbing her neck and was hunched over, gasping for breath. Hitter and Shiny helped her up and she glared at Forge, narrowing her eyes at him.

_"What was this guy's issue?"_

"I hear droids." Bomber explained, pushing himself up from the piece of machinery he was leaning against to give a rest to his injury.

"Me, Shiny, Hitter and Chrome will hold them off. The rest will plant the bombs, we will provide cover." Ahsoka ordered, already moving to the door, followed by Shiny and Hitter.

Chrome patted Forge on the back in a friendly manner before putting in his helmet and moving to the door as well.

"Let just get this over it." Forge mumbled as he set up the bombs with shaky hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't write action sequences for the life of me.


	19. Arc 2: First Mission - Part 8

Scarlett panted as she stared Dooku down, sweat dripping down her temples. Dooku, on the other hand, stood perfectly straight, in his usual stance, not a hint of weariness.

"Are you tired, my dear?" Dooku asked in a mocking tone, making Scarlett grit her teeth. 

"Bastard."

"Oh, I've hit a nerve didn't I?"

Growling again, they started to circle again, Scarlett's thigh muscles flexing with each step because of exhaustion. "You're spry," Narrowing her eyes, Scarlett barred her teeth. "For an old man."

Dooku laughed. "My... Sparring partners are keeping me spry. Yes, them."

_Skywalker._

_Kenobi._

_Grievous._

_Varien._

"Lets see if they really do you any favors!" With a snarl, Scarlett lunged forward and Dooku prepared himself for any frontal attack but was proven that this woman was too much like her father, doing the exact same thing he subconsciously anticipated.

Using all her strength to jump into the air, rise her saber hand above her head and with a roar, bring it down upon Dooku, who avoided it in the last moment, his heart hammering in his chest.

He never liked this move. If you avoided it too soon, the user would gain momentum and advantage over you, ending the fight in a matter of seconds. If you avoided too late, your knees could get shattered or cause internal damage.

Avoiding in just the right moment causes the user to exhaust themselves sooner and cause knee and joint pains upon impact. 

The woman straightened, knees cracking but otherwise she made no sound, yet Dooku mock cringed. "Oh, dear, did you hurt yourself?" His only answer was a growl.

* * *

"Hey, you alright?" Smoke reached over to place his hand on Forge's shoulder, who violently shook it off and glared at Smoke. "Don't fucking touch me."

"Forge, be nice to him!" Bomber growled and Forge retaliated by clicking the explosive to place, the clicking sound making Bomber freeze up. It was only blink-and-you-miss-it thing but it was still there.

_He hated doing it, but that way, he made sure that they left him alone._

The sounds of blasted fire became louder and louder, getting closer.

"Bomber, go and help them." Forge ordered, thrusting a blaster into Bomber's hands.

"Commander Tano said-"

"That's an order!" Forge growled in a commanding voice, the one Captains and Commanders have and Bomber flinched, taking the blaster and running off to join the fight.

A lazy smirk pulled at Forge's lips as he could already hear Tano and Bomber bickering. That'll teach the privileged Jedi.

"Why did you do that?" Smoke asked weakly, putting another explosive on the reactor.

"The guy who always freezes on the sound of an explosive clicking into place is no good to us here." Forge explained, checking the explosives. "Four more. Keep it up, kid."

"Yes, sir."

* * *

Scarlett hated Dooku.

Hated his fighting technique.

Hated his skills.

Hated his attitude.

_Hated him because he reminded her too much of her father._

"Something the matter, darling?" Dooku shifted slightly, eyes trained on her, nevet leaving her.

_"Darling, ew." _

"Just waiting for the opportunity to beat your old, wrinkly ass." Scarlett hissed out, trying to straighten her knees - bones cracking, muscles stretching painfully. 

"You won't recocer from the attack that easily." Dooku mused, turning off his lightsaber and weighing it in his palm, looking it over as if he was seeing it for the first time.

_"He's fucking with me." _

Gritting her teeth and lunging forward with a snarl, Scarlett went for a low to up attack, going for disarming rather than an attack - he's not reacting, he's not even looking at her, he's -

_Pinning her against a wall._

"How the fuck?!"

"You took the bait, my dear." Amusement rolled off Dooku's tone, making Scarlett grit her teeth. Her lightsaber was dropped somewhere, his free hand pinning her wrist and his other hand holding lightsaber to her neck, his elbow pinning her shoulder, limiting her movements. Their feet were tangled together - more like Dooku tangled her legs into his, making it harder for her to strike.

Determination, anger, hatred mirrored in Scarlett's eyes - Dooku knew that look well, every sparing match similar eyes would lit up with those emotions, the youth returning for a split second before dying out again - the light dimming, snuffed out by the things they saw and experienced.

When he would have him pinned like this, those eyes would soften and they would be already undressed.

"What do you want?" The sentence is spat out with as much venom she could muster, making Dooku chuckle. "I want nothing more, than to teach you Ki-" 

A violent explosion shook the building, making both of them stumble, Dooku releasing Scarlett to regain his footing, giving Scarlett enough time to dive for the door, calling her lightsaber into her hand.

The floor cracked under her feet and she fell trough, yet she didn't scream - screaming draws in predators - twisting in mid-air to bounce off a piece of falling floor to another, using it to slide down to safety, away from the falling debris.

Running down the hall, her legs aching with each step and she pushed trough - she needed to escape Dooku's presence, his searching aura - she wouldn't be caught. Never again.

Rounding a corner, she felt something different as if a voice was telling her directions, guiding her trough the maze of corridors. Then she felt something - or rather someone - familiar.

_Forge._

Scarlett grasped at it with her full conscience, following it to safety.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took....long.
> 
> I experienced a brain fart while writing this, which is no fun and this chapter is bad, really bad.


End file.
